Testosterone is more than just a hormone; it’s a regulating hormone. Optimal levels help regulate daily life by maintaining balance in the bodies of men and women, but primarily men. If you are suffering from low testosterone, your life is most likely anything but balanced. At ProMD Health, with offices in Arlington, VA, Baltimore, MD, Annapolis, MD, and Columbia, MD, we offer hormone optimization therapy to restore testosterone levels to the body so that you can feel your best.
What Happens if Low Testosterone Goes Untreated?
If low testosterone goes untreated, you will experience negative symptoms, but you will also put your body at risk. Adequate testosterone levels are important not only for daily life and regular bodily processes and functions, but they’re also important for protecting the body from age-related diseases. Living with a testosterone deficiency long-term will increase your likelihood of developing age-related diseases, including osteoporosis and heart disease, among others.
Testosterone is such an important hormone because it helps regulate sperm production, helps maintain reproductive health, promotes muscle strength, enables you to maintain strong bones as you age, and helps promote healthy sexual function.
Symptoms of a Testosterone Deficiency
Lower than normal testosterone levels lead to unpleasant physical, mental, and emotional symptoms that can interfere with your ability to function well in daily life. These symptoms vary among men based on the degree of their deficiencies, but regardless, if your body doesn’t have enough testosterone to maintain balance, you will feel the negative effects.
Some patients suffer from multiple symptoms of a testosterone deficiency; others are only affected by a few. Regardless, living with these symptoms will impact your life one way or another. They can affect your interpersonal relationships, your energy levels, and your mood. Some of the most common symptoms of a testosterone deficiency include:
- Depression and anxiety
- Increased body fat percentage
- Poor bone strength
- Low energy levels
- Low libido
- Sexual dysfunction
- Acne
- Frequent headaches
- Irritability
- Poor quality sleep
- Insomnia
- The inability to gain lean muscle mass
- Weight gain
What Causes Low Testosterone?
There are a number of factors that can cause low testosterone levels, the most common one being the aging process. As men age, they begin to experience decreased hormone production, which can lead to different symptoms. Low testosterone qualifies as 300 ng/dL or lower. The most common reasons that testosterone levels drop include:
- The aging process
- Testicular injuries
- Hormone disorders
- Cancer treatments
- Genetic conditions
- Medications
- Poor lifestyle choices
- Obesity
- HIV/AIDS
- Unknown factors
- Kidney disease
- Liver disease
- Infections
Treating Hormone Deficiencies With Hormone Optimization Therapy
For some, the negative symptoms associated with low testosterone often become a normal part of their everyday life. However, living with such symptoms is anything but normal. You can address your deficiency; the choice is yours. At Pro MD health, we offer hormone optimization therapy, a treatment that uses bioidentical hormones to restore balance to the body.
Bioidentical hormones are hormones that are identical in molecular structure to the hormones that your body produces naturally. We offer different hormone optimization therapy treatments that not only alleviate symptoms but improve general health and well-being.
How Does the Treatment Process Work?
This treatment begins with a consultation. It’s important that we perform the necessary diagnostics to determine your testosterone levels so that we can treat you accordingly. Once you come in for your consultation, Dr. Gavrila will order a blood test which we will take during the morning since that is when testosterone levels are the highest. Once we receive the results, we will take the next steps and design your treatment plan.
Customizing Your Testosterone Therapy Treatment Plan
Once we determine the degree of your hormone deficiency, we will review the different treatment methods to increase your testosterone levels. There are many different treatment methods, and we can choose the right one for you based on your required dosage, your preferences, and your lifestyle. There are some forms of testosterone replacement therapy that are self-administered, and there are others that must be administered in our office.
You’ll have plenty of options to choose from, including patches, creams, injections, and pellets. Many people choose pellet therapy because it’s mindless, effective, and long-lasting. It doesn’t require any work on your part except that you schedule and attend follow-up treatments every few months. During the consultation, we will review each of these methods in detail and recommend the one that will best suit you based on your needs and lifestyle.
Beginning the Treatment Process
Once we choose the right method treatment method for you, we can begin the treatment process. You’ll begin to feel the effects of balanced testosterone levels within a few weeks of beginning the treatment. Results vary among patients based on the degree of their deficiencies and the method they use to address them.
Experiencing the Results of Balance
You can rest assured that you will experience results, you will watch your symptoms disappear, and you’ll get to experience all the benefits that come with balanced testosterone levels. Some men have lived the majority of their life with low testosterone, and once they experience the benefits of hormone optimization therapy, everything changes.
They feel as though they have a new lease on life, they have sky-high energy levels, and they have an overall improved sense of well-being. They also notice that they can finally put on the muscle mass and achieve their body goals, regardless of their numerical age or life stage.
Your Follow-Up Treatments
Once you begin the treatment process, we won’t leave you out on your own. We will schedule follow-up treatments to take additional diagnostic blood tests to ensure that your hormone levels are exactly where they need to be. We can make adjustments as needed to your dosage or treatment method so that you can achieve the best possible results from the treatment process.
If at any point you want to change your chosen treatment method, we can revise your treatment plan until we find a method that’s the best fit. Some patients begin using injections and then switch to pellet therapy or vice versa. It’s important that you let us know if you have any questions or concerns about your chosen treatment method so that we can take every step possible to address those concerns and help you feel and look your best.
The Treatment Benefits
There are so many different benefits associated with testosterone replacement therapy, the first being that it restores a sense of balance in your body. When your body can operate in a state of harmony, you will feel better than you may have ever felt before. Additionally, most men who begin this treatment to balance the hormones notice that all of their symptoms are replaced with the benefits that accompany regulated testosterone levels. Some of these benefits include:
- Increased libido
- Healthy weight loss
- Increased lean muscle mass
- Better quality sleep
- Improved skin and hair
- Increased energy levels
- Better mood
- Stable emotions
- An improved overall sense of well-being
- Improved sexual performance
- Better health
- Stronger bones
Am I a Candidate?
If you’re suffering from the symptoms of a testosterone imbalance, chances are, they are affecting your life in more ways than one. If you can relate to any of these negative symptoms, we encourage you to schedule a consultation at our office. During this consultation, we can evaluate your symptoms in a person, perform the necessary diagnostics to obtain your actual hormone levels, and help you achieve a state of balance so that you can live your best life possible.
While age is the most common reason men experience testosterone deficiencies, it’s not the only reason. Young men can experience testosterone imbalances in the same way that men walking through andropause can. It depends on your body, your health history, and your genetic makeup. We can evaluate your symptoms regardless of your numerical age and help create the right treatment plan to help you achieve a state of balance.
Balance Your Hormones With Hormone Optimization Therapy
You don’t have to live a life defined by the symptoms of low testosterone. There is a natural and effective solution that will deliver some incredible results; you just have to take the first step to seek out the care of an expert who can help change your life. Contact us today at one of our ProMD Health office offices in Arlington, VA, Baltimore, MD, Annapolis, MD, and Columbia, MD, to learn more about hormone optimization therapy.
