Testosterone

When men go through puberty, our testicles start to make more testosterone allowing us to get taller, increase muscle strength and size, grow body hair, increase our sex drive, and all the other traits we as men get that make us men. Unfortunately, some men do not have as high of testosterone levels as others or as high as they would like to be the best man that they can be. There are many reasons why some men have lower levels of testosterone than other men. Proper testing can help to determine if testosterone levels are low and if they can or should be replaced with exogenous testosterone. Exogenous testosterone is any testosterone introduced from an outside source, like an injection, a topical lotion or cream, or an insert of a pellet. We believe certain delivery methods of testosterone are superior to others and carry more benefits with less potential for side effects than other methods.

Testosterone levels are evaluated through blood tests to determine if a sub-optimal level is a reason for a man to be experiencing symptoms he may be looking to improve. Often men can feel sluggish, tired, have a low sex drive, have erectile dysfunction, lower muscle mass, increased body fat, or just not feeling the best they can be. Lower testosterone may be the reason for many of these symptoms. If a low level of testosterone is determined to be the problem, then the use of testosterone therapy may be the solution. Injectable testosterone is what we believe to be the best of the testosterone replacement therapy options because this method is easiest to control, with the least potential for side effects. 

There are a few testosterone esters available that will determine the medications half-life and frequency of injections needed to have a consistent level instead of high peaks and troughs of the hormone between injections. Testosterone cypionate or enanthate are the two most used due to the half-lives of these esters which are approximately one week and only require one injection per week. Some men prefer to split their injections into two or more injections throughout the week this can be done intramuscular or broken up into very small subcutaneous (into fat) injections to reduce the peak and trough of the hormone in their system between shots.

We council all men to understand that the use of testosterone replacement is a long-term commitment, and they should acknowledge that when starting testosterone, they’re most likely going to have to stay on it for life. This lifelong commitment, if monitored correctly can dramatically improve the quality of life and have little to no health issues.