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Thyroid TSH Test

Read your result

What your result might look like.

C is the control and shows the test ran. T is your result. Line intensity doesn't matter here — 
any clear, even line at T counts.

  • Positive

    Positive

    Lines at both C and T

    What it means

    Your TSH reads above 5 μIU/mL. TSH is the hormone that rises when the thyroid is running slow, so a positive here is worth following up.

    What it doesn't mean

    It isn't a diagnosis and it isn't a number. This test can't tell you how high your TSH is, and a positive has to be confirmed with a laboratory TSH assay.

    What to do next

    See a doctor and ask for a quantitative TSH test.
  • Negative

    Negative

    A line at C only

    What it means

    Your TSH isn't in the range this test flags for an underactive thyroid.

    What it doesn't mean

    A normal TSH doesn't rule out every thyroid problem. In central hypothyroidism — around one in a thousand cases — TSH can read normal or even low while the thyroid is still underactive.

    What to do next

    If symptoms carry on, see a doctor rather than relying on this result.
  • Invalid

    Invalid

    No line at C

    What it means

    The control line didn't appear, so the test didn't run. Too little blood or a procedural slip are the usual causes.

    What it doesn't mean

    It isn't a raised TSH and it isn't a normal one.

    What to do next

    Repeat with a new test. If it keeps failing, stop using the kit and contact your distributor.

Send us a photo

Not sure if that's a line?

A faint test line is still a test line, and it's the hardest thing to call on your own. Send a photo and someone on our team will look at it with you before you decide what it means.

01

Photograph the whole cassette, with the C and T letters visible.

02

Take it at 10 minutes. After 20 the result is no longer reliable, whatever it shows.

03

Daylight if you can, phone straight above, no shadow across the window.

How this works

Your photo is reviewed by a member of our support team. They are not healthcare professionals and cannot diagnose a condition or advise on treatment. What they can do is help you read what your test is showing.

Nothing here is automated. Your photo stays confidential and is used only to answer you.

Lost the card from your kit? You can still send a photo. Put the cassette on a plain white surface in good light.

Upload your photo

Taking the test

A few things worth knowing first.

Small handling details, and one that trips people up.

  1. Not while you're on thyroid medication. The test can't and shouldn't be used if you're taking hormonal thyroid treatment. If you're already being treated, your doctor monitors TSH with a lab test instead.
  2. Let the sealed pouch reach room temperature before you open it. Opening a cold cassette is a common cause of a result that doesn't run properly.
  3. Any time of day works. There's no fasting rule and no first-morning rule for this one.
  4. Two drops of buffer. Not one, not four. Fewer than two or more than three is the most common reason a result comes out wrong.
  5. You'll need a timer. It isn't in the box — everything else is: cassette, capillary dropper, buffer, alcohol pad and lancet.
  6. Keep the cassette in its sealed pouch until you use it, stored between 2 and 30°C. Don't freeze it, and don't use a pouch that's damaged or already open.

Directions for use

How to take it.

About eleven minutes, ten of it waiting.

  • STEP 01

    Warm your hands and prick

    Let the pouch reach room temperature before you open it. Wash with soap and warm water, clean your middle or ring fingertip with the alcohol pad, then pull the cap off the lancet and press it against the side of the finger.
  • STEP 02

    Fill the dropper

    Hold your hand down and massage the finger until a drop forms. Touch the capillary dropper to the blood without squeezing the bulb and let it fill to the line. Avoid air bubbles.
  • STEP 03

    Add blood, then buffer

    Squeeze the bulb to release the blood into the sample well. Once it has fully gone in, unscrew the buffer bottle and add two drops to the same well.
  • STEP 04

    Read at 10 minutes

    Time it from when you added the buffer, and read the result at ten minutes.

Read at 10 minutes and not after 20. Line intensity doesn't matter here — any clear, even line at T counts, however pale. A positive needs a laboratory TSH test to confirm it.

WATCH IT DONE

The whole thing, start to finish.

Questions

The ones we hear most often.

Yes. The instructions are explicit: the colour and intensity of the lines have no importance for interpretation. The line only needs to be even and clearly visible. A positive is a positive whatever the shade. If you can't tell whether what you're seeing is a line at all, send us a photo.

No. An overactive thyroid usually shows as a TSH below the normal range, and this test only flags TSH above 5 μIU/mL. Someone with hyperthyroidism would read negative here. The instructions say as much: a case of hyperthyroidism, though rare, cannot be excluded on the basis of a negative result.

No. The instructions say the test cannot and should not be performed if you're on hormonal thyroid treatment. Once you're being treated, TSH is monitored with a quantitative lab test, because the question stops being "is it raised" and becomes "is the dose right" — and this test can't answer that. Your doctor will have a schedule for it.

In the manufacturer's own evaluation of 220 whole blood samples compared against a laboratory ELISA, the test agreed with the lab 98.2% of the time, with sensitivity and specificity both at 98.2%. That's a strong figure for a screening test, and it's still a screening test — which is why the instructions require a positive to be confirmed with a quantitative lab TSH assay rather than acted on directly.

Then it's worth seeing a doctor, and a negative here isn't a reason not to. This test only detects a raised TSH, which is the common form of an underactive thyroid. It can't see an overactive thyroid, where TSH runs low instead, and it can't see central hypothyroidism, where TSH reads normal despite the thyroid being underactive. Those symptoms also have causes outside the thyroid entirely. A single screening result isn't an answer to how you feel.

Thyroid stimulating hormone. It's made by the pituitary gland, not the thyroid, and its job is to tell the thyroid how hard to work. When the thyroid is underactive the pituitary pushes harder and TSH rises — which is why a high TSH points to a slow thyroid rather than a fast one. It's the standard first-line marker for exactly that reason.

Still need help

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  • Test again later

    Thyroid TSH Test

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  • Want to talk it through

    Talk to a provider

    A licensed clinician can review your result and arrange a quantitative TSH blood test

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