What are testosterone injections?

testosterone

As one of the original cornerstones of testosterone replacement therapy, testosterone injections remain the preferred form of treatment for many adult patients who are using prescription medical treatment for Low T.

They are composed of lab-created and finely crystalized testosterone that can be mixed with certain pharmacological mediums into an injectable form.

A Harvard Medical School expert in treating low testosterone levels recently shared his views on testosterone replacement therapy and clarified some of the key points of confusion for adults today.

This expert said that testosterone injections,which are the longest standing form of Low T medical treatment, are still popular today with today’s patients because of their affordability and reliability.

Yet for someone who is unfamiliar with hormone replacement therapy, understanding how using injectable testosterone can “reliably work to get good testosterone levels in nearly every patient who uses them,” as the Harvard expert noted, is not always immediately clear.

Learning about the regimen, the advantages, and the possible disadvantages of using injectable testosterone treatments or any unfamiliar medication can often seem confusing at first. However, having these issues explained by experienced medical experts is the most reliable way to gain a clearer understanding. 

At TRT Medical Center, our experienced clinical advisors are dedicated to explaining these very issues and answering the very specific questions about using injectable testosterone that many adults have. We are always gratified to be able to share our knowledge of its considerable and medically substantiated health benefits, which we will summarize next.

Testosterone Injections for Men

No patient should be expected to undergo any form of medical treatment that they do not completely understand, because no one has more at stake than they do. So here we will address some of the essential points that adults often need clarified in regard to the use of medically prescribed testosterone injections for men with Low T.

In general terms, we have found that when most men want to learn about how testosterone injections work, they are usually referring to the “mechanics” of the regimen rather than an explicit medical explanation.

Yet the medical rationale for using injectable testosterone as opposed to one of the heavily advertised topical treatments is not overly complicated. Intramuscular injections of testosterone most effectively increase the body’s absorption of this critical androgen hormone.

With the use of prescription gels and other topical formulations, the poorer and self-limiting absorption rates can sometimes translate to less desirable therapeutic results.

However, most men who are using a testosterone injections regimen report experiencing very significant relief from their Low T symptoms. This level of relief typically comes from elevating testosterone levels to the high end of the normal range, which is something that the other androgen preparations can sometimes fall sort of accomplishing.

The benefits that are routinely reported by and clinically observed in patients using prescribed testosterone injections include (but are not limited to):

  • Sexual enhancement in all areas – performance, desire and frequency
  • Improvements in bone strength, muscle mass, and fat loss
  • Better moods and improved cognitive function
  • Increased cell oxygenation

Why Is This Medication Prescribed?

It is interesting to note that experienced hormone replacement doctors will usually initially prescribe the injectable form of testosterone for their adult male patients who need real relief from their Low T symptoms.

It is because they know that their patients will experience the results they are after from using testosterone injections rather than using a different delivery system – and obtaining the best therapeutic results is what both patients and their hormone replacement therapy doctors want.

Most men would say that they don’t want to bother to use testosterone replacement therapy unless they can receive significant results instead of barely discernible ones. They are looking for a treatment regimen for their Low T levels that can either eliminate or make a substantial improvement in their symptoms. 

But instead of issuing a prescription for testosterone injections, their primary care physicians will often recommend that they see an endocrinologist.

If they are qualified to prescribe TRT (testosterone replacement therapy), they might recommend a therapeutic regimen utilizing one of the topically applied medications as a first line treatment option. Unfortunately, many patients don’t receive the results they desire from these topical treatments.

This is why after decades of medical use, doctors and patients are still turning to injectable testosterone regimens for delivering the consistent and dependable results that both parties are looking for.   

Testosterone Injections: Do They Work?

If testosterone injections did not work to effectively increase insufficient androgen hormone levels, medical researchers would have proven that fact decades ago. Instead, the compilation of all of the scientific and clinical evidence has continually proven that they do work.

From the clinical viewpoint, a measurable increase in testosterone levels (which is detected by sampling the patient’s blood) scientifically proves that the patient’s TRT regimen is producing the desired blood chemistry results. However, doctors also want to monitor improvements in the patient’s symptomatology. Low T, unlike some other medical conditions where crossing over or under an established diagnostic threshold has specific interpretation, is more open to medical interpretation. 

A sample of an adult male’s blood can be measured and indicate that he has low testosterone levels, yet he might not have any symptomatic complaints or only very minor ones. In such as case, testosterone injectionstherapy would most likely not be prescribed for him.

Yet as the Harvard expert noted, most adult men with clinically low testosterone levels do exhibit at least some of its related symptoms, such as:

The expert also noted that it is often the most testosterone deficient patients who experience the most dramatic improvement from their therapy.    

Types of Testosterone Injections

There are technically four various types of testosterone injections, but only two types that are considered to be therapeutically viable by the medical community here in the US.

The two types that are not as commonly recommended to testosterone replacement therapy patients are “propionate,” which risks aromatization into estrogen and requires more frequent injections; and “aqueous testosterone suspension,” which also requires frequent injections that some patients find to be overly uncomfortable.

The two other types, “cypionate” and “enanthate,” are the types of testosterone injections that are routinely prescribed for Low T patients by US doctors because they generally deliver therapeutic advantages without the disadvantages noted above.While a patient’s baseline testosterone levels and other unique physiological factors may influence what their doctor prescribes initially, safely restoring the patient’s own optimal range is always the ultimate goal of their therapy.

Both testosterone cypionate and enanthate are considered modified forms of this androgen, meaning that an ester has been added to them to provide them with a longer half-life. This allows them to be slowly absorbed from the site used for the patient’s injections.Patients using a regimen that consists of either of these two types will therefore require less frequent injections. 

Overall, the advantages of testosterone injections include:

  • How affordable it is to use them when self-administered by patients 
  • The inherent dosage flexibility, which can be adjusted from injection to injection if necessary 
  • How effective they are in eliminating the patient’s symptoms 

At TRT Medical Center, we are also experts in prescribing testosterone replacement therapy. We can be directly contacted at any time to further clarify any point that you don’t quite understand about using an injectable testosterone program.  

Source: https://www.hgha.com/