Can pregnancy tests expire? A typical query. Your social media page may suddenly display a tampon advertisement. You take a quick check at the calendar, notice that you’re more exhausted than normal, and consider, “When was my last period?”
These moments always, without fail, appear to occur after the pharmacy has shut down. You search your bathroom drawer until you locate the pregnancy test you purchased the previous year.
Is my pregnancy test expired, you might wonder? The answer is yes! It could expire because pregnancy tests have a shelf life. What you should know about pregnancy test expiration and the ideal time to use one is provided below.
How Long Do Pregnancy Tests Last
After manufacture, tests typically last one to three years. Antibodies coated in at-home pregnancy tests gradually start to lose their potency and dissipate. Before you take a pregnancy test, make sure to verify the expiration date on the test. Since using a test that has expired increases the likelihood of receiving a false negative result.
Note: The expiration process can be slowed down by storing your test at temperatures between 36 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit.
Why do Pregnancy Tests Expire
Pregnancy tests have an expiration date much like many other things in your medicine cabinet. Having a basic understanding of how they operate will enable you to comprehend why. Human chorionic gonadotropin, a pregnancy hormone, is monitored via pregnancy tests (hCG). Within six to twelve days of fertilization, HCG begins to appear in a woman’s urine (and blood), and her levels rise steadily thereafter, reaching a peak between seven and twelve weeks into her pregnancy.
Pregnancy tests use test strips that have a chemical that can identify hCG in a woman’s urine and indicate whether or not she is pregnant. However, the chemical doesn’t last forever and loses some of its ability to detect hCG after the test’s expiration date. This makes it more probable that the pregnancy test will give you a false positive result. Though false positives are less common, false negatives are still conceivable.
How to get the accurate result out of a home pregnancy test
The following should be done for the best results from a home pregnancy test:
- It’s preferable to search for an expiration date on the box.
- To test, use your first-morning urinal. This is typically the time when your urine contains the most hCG.
- Test only when your menstruation is beyond due. We are aware of tests that promise findings up to 6 days in advance of a missed period. However, even those tests, which are among the most sensitive on the market, are most accurate one or two days after your missing period. Indeed, if you read the small print, you’ll probably discover that the stated claims of 99 percent accuracy only hold during this period.
- Once the time limit has passed, throw away test strips. Read your test findings within 5-10 minutes, as advised by the majority of companies.
- If you dig a test out of the trash later, an extra line may be due to moisture rather than pregnancy. Don’t feel bad if you’ve done this; many women have. A thin line is still positive, so keep that in mind. The line may be faint enough that it makes you doubt yourself, but don’t forget that our eyes can fool us. Therefore, try again in a few days if the line is too faint to be sure.
- Keep unused test results in a safe place such as a dry, chilly environment. The bathroom here might not be yours. Moisture can interfere with test results
Do expired pregnancy tests work?
A pregnancy test’s hCG level-detecting antibodies start to degrade after it has reached its expiration date. Accordingly, the test might not be able to detect hCG levels the way an outdated pregnancy test could, which may result in a false negative.
Are expired pregnancy tests capable of producing a false positive result? The hCG hormone, which is often only present if you are pregnant, is what causes pregnancy tests to identify your pregnancy. False positives happen very infrequently.
If you use a pregnancy test that has expired and it comes up positive, you probably are. You must retake the test using a non-expired test since the expired test is not regarded as accurate. You must visit your healthcare provider as soon as you receive a positive result, regardless of whether the test is valid or not.
Make sure to properly keep your tests and administer them by the guidelines. This involves being aware of use-by dates. Giving expired pregnancy tests their proper final disposal helps ease your mind and guarantee accuracy the following time a test is required.
When Should You Take a Pregnancy Test?
A pregnancy test can be used whenever before the expiration date indicated on the packaging. Wait until at least the day of your anticipated period before taking the test to improve your chances of getting a valid reading. And make sure to adhere to the directions on the box or wrapper.
How Can I Tell If My Pregnancy Test is No Longer Valid?
The foil wrapper and box of each pregnancy test such as from Clearblue® have written expiration dates. So it’s okay to remove tests from the box and then throw them away, but you should avoid unwarping the pregnancy test until you’re ready to use it. Some Pregnancy tests are designed to be kept in their foil packaging until they are ready for use right away.
The pregnancy test’s expiration date is determined by the date of production. When purchasing your test, it’s crucial to verify that ‘Is this pregnancy test expired ‘because it can be sooner than you think. Every time you test, be sure to also check the expiration date to confirm the validity. You might have unintentionally purchased a two-pack of tests that expired a year ago.
Final Word
It is advised to throw away pregnancy tests that you believe have reached their expiration date. And regardless of the type of home pregnancy test you take, it is always better to consult a healthcare professional for confirmation. The most precise test to detect pregnancy and start prenatal screening is an hCG blood test, which they will administer to you.
You wouldn’t consume milk from a carton that was weeks or months old. Although there aren’t any medical concerns associated with using an outdated pregnancy test, obtaining a false positive or negative result can still be detrimental to your mental well-being, so it’s better to avoid the risk by using expired pregnancy tests. In conclusion, pregnancy tests can expire and do lose their validity.
