Identifying the sensation when you wipe your vulva is incredibly important for fertility awareness to be effective.
Unfortunately, a lot of popular fertility awareness apps don’t have space to record this, so people who have only learned from a book or an app may be misinterpreting their fertile days.
The reason sensation is so important is because it’s part of the calculation for determining when you are fertile or infertile in your cycle.
The mechanism behind this is that the higher your estrogen levels, the higher the water content in the mucus, and it’s these higher estrogen levels that trigger ovulation.
In fact, a slippery or lubricative sensation alone, even without any mucus to finger test, is a sign of peak fertility. This is because the water content can get so high that all substance and body leaves the mucus and all that’s left is the slippery sensation.
In the Justisse method we observe the sensation every time we go to the bathroom, both before and after using the toilet, by wiping with a flat tissue from front to back across the perineum (the soft sensitive bit of skin between the vagina and the anus).
We then record the sensation as either dry, smooth, or lubricative.
The most common questions I get from clients when they are first learning are, “how do I interpret it?” or “How can I tell if I am lubricative or just smooth?” and “What’s the difference anyway?”
The important thing to note is the a lubricative sensation is very obvious. If you have it, you’ll know you have it. It’s super slippery and lubey, and I promise that the more cycles you chart the easier it will be to identify. Like the rest of mucus observations, it simply takes a bit of time and practice.
If you are using an app that doesn’t have sensations as part of the data recorded, I would highly recommend creating custom fields of “Sensation Dry,” “Sensation Smooth,” and “Sensation Lubricative.” This will make it easy for you to record and remember what is happening. Alternatively, you can record a day that is lubricative but with no mucus to finger test as “watery” (or whatever other option is in the chart that is similar; but really, making custom fields is the easiest way to keep track and improve your effectiveness with the method). Alternatively, use the Justisse charting app where these fields already exist.
Remember, if in doubt, consider yourself fertile, and trust that in time you will find it easy to know because once you experience a lubricative day it’s quite obvious.
Having trouble interpreting your sensation or mucus pattern? Check out my programs or contact me and we can set up an appointment to get you on the right track.