Fertility tracking can be useful even when you’re not trying to conceive – sure, you spend every day with your body, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get to know it even better.
Tips to support your long-term fertility
For some people, not trying to conceive now doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll never want to conceive – and if and when you start trying, you’ll want it to be as easy as possible, right? Most ways to try to support your fertility are strategies for the short term, but there are a few tips to help encourage your long-term fertility without telling your body it’s time to start getting busy now.
Birth control
You can kill two birds with one stone in terms of birth control if you think using oral birth control might be right for you – the pill can help protect against uterine and ovarian cancers, both of which can hurt your fertility. The way the pill limits estrogen can also help limit some of the damage endometriosis has on fertility. About half of all women with endometriosis struggle with infertility, either because of uterine scar tissue or because of the changes endometriosis can cause in hormones or eggs. The pill limits the estrogen that endometriosis feeds off of, so women with endometriosis who use the pill for birth control tend to have less scar tissue and less damage to eggs or hormones, and so may have an easier time conceiving when they stop using the pill.
Keep your appointments
Ovarian cysts, either from endometriosis or PCOS, can hurt your fertility as well as cause discomfort and hormonal changes. While there’s nothing definite you can do to prevent them, the Mayo Clinic reminds you that regular pelvic exams and paying attention to any changes in your cycle could help you catch them early and limit their effects.
Keep up with your health
The most important factor in most people’s overall fertility support is general health. Simply put, if you’re healthy, you’ve got a better chance of conceiving. So just what does this mean? There are probably no surprises here, but we recommend that you eat a nutritious and balanced diet, stay active, and limit smoking and drinking. That way, if and when you do try to conceive, you’ve got a great chance of doing so.
Sources
- “Infertility fact sheet.” Womenshealth. US Department of Health and Human Services, Jul 16 2012. Web.
