Testosterone, a sex hormone, helps men maintain muscle strength and mass, facial and body hair, and a deeper voice. Testosterone also is needed for men to produce sperm.
While it’s natural for testosterone levels to gradually decline through adulthood, men with testosterone levels below 300 ng/dL may have a disease known as low testosterone (also called hypogonadism or low-T). It occurs when the body is unable to produce normal amounts of testosterone due to a problem with the testicles or the pituitary gland that controls the testicles.
Most common in men, low testosterone leads to symptoms like:
Men with certain health problems tend to have low testosterone. Some of these conditions include:
While not everyone chooses treatment, there are many effective options for raising your level of testosterone. For example, testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) can be given using:
Before participating in TRT, visit one of Summa’s urologists. Our team is skilled in diagnosing low testosterone. Since many of its symptoms can be the result of other health problems, we’ll conduct an in-depth health history, physical exam and blood tests to rule out any other causes of symptoms before testosterone is prescribed.
In fact, you should not take testosterone for non-medical reasons, such as bodybuilding, aging prevention or performance enhancement. Men also should not take TRT without being tested. If you have normal testosterone levels, TRT will not help your health problems. Also, if you are trying to father a child, you should not be on TRT. TRT can decrease your sperm count and fertility.
