The treatment that’s right for you
Medical science offers several treatment options for men suffering from testosterone deficiency and its related symptoms. These treatments are designed to restore testosterone levels back to the normal range. There are many different ways to administer testosterone. Some are more effective than others and some will suit you and your lifestyle better than others. What’s more, not all treatments are available in all countries, so you should check with your doctor to find out which are available to you and which is the most suitable. That way, you will discover a treatment that fits in with your lifestyle, causes little or no discomfort - and works consistently and reliably to maintain the correct testosterone levels between applications.
Testosterone injections have been available for treatment of testosterone deficiency for more than 50 years. Conventional injections involve injections into your muscle tissue every 2-3 weeks by a medical professional.
Advantages
- well established and reliable
- generally well-tolerated by patients
Disadvantages
- produces high blood concentrations initially which reduce to low levels by the time of the next injection
- can lead to mood fluctuations, with high energy levels after the injection but then leading to tiredness and irritability as the testosterone levels fall
- reliant on professional administration every 2-3 weeks, so regular visits have to be made to your doctor or nurse
The new formulation of testosterone injections mainly overcome the disadvantages of conventional injections with regard to injection frequency and plasma level fluctuations. Injection intervals can be extended to 10-14 weeks with the possible necessity to reduce the first interval to approximately six weeks. This means that 4 injections per year usually maintain serum testosterone levels in the physiological range. Additionally, those new injections lead to relatively constant concentrations of testosterone in your blood stream.
This is a self-administered treatment usually involving two patches for each daily dose.
Advantages
- delivery through skin into the bloodstream
- self-administered (2 patches on upper arms, abdomen, shoulders or back every evening)
Disadvantages
- the patch must be kept in place for 24 hours
- it is quite visible
- it has limited skin tolerability - your skin can become irritated (redness, itching etc)
This treatment involves a surgical procedure and achieves the longest intervals between doses. Small rods containing testosterone are implanted under the skin of the abdomen.
Advantages
- testosterone levels are kept within normal range for 4-6 months
Disadvantages
- surgical operation necessary to implant dosage
- requires a local anaesthetic
- may lead to local tissue reactions
This self-administered treatment has to be taken several times a day and can be affected by what you eat and drink.
Advantages
Disadvantages
- several capsules have to be taken every day
- must be taken with high fat food
- unreliable because of short duration of action
This self-administered treatment is applied once daily to the arms, shoulders or abdomen. It delivers consistency and reliability.
Advantages
- self-administered once daily
- invisible and odourless
- quickly absorbed
- very reliable return to steady testosterone levels
- excellently tolerated by most patients
Disadvantages
- possible skin reactions
- skin-to-skin contact to be avoided until the gel has been absorbed
