Testosterone plays a crucial role in everyone’s life, regardless of gender. Yes, testosterone isn’t just something men have. Women have testosterone as well and can also suffer from improper hormonal balance with it. But most people have a lot of misconceptions about the hormone despite testosterone’s ubiquity and importance.
Worse yet, the various myths surrounding testosterone often cause people to miss what would otherwise be obvious signs of low testosterone levels. By ignoring the signs, people also wind up ignoring ways they could stop the snowball effect of symptoms building on top of each other. Because there are methods of restoring testosterone to a healthy level. But the treatments only happen when people are aware that they’re suffering from something that needs to be treated in the first place. And all that pain stems from dubious myths and narratives. The following are some of the biggest commonly believed myths about testosterone, along with the reasons why those false narratives can prove so harmful.
Myth 1: Only older men have low testosterone
Reality: Testosterone levels do drop as men grow older. But everyone, man or woman, young or old, can suffer from symptoms related to low testosterone levels. Age is just one causal factor of low testosterone. Most environmental stress, including seemingly simple things like lack of sleep or social problems, can disrupt your testosterone levels. Does something take a toll on your body over an extended period of time? If so, then there’s a good chance those elements might also lower your testosterone levels in the long term.
Myth 2: Low testosterone only affects sex drive
Reality: Your sex drive is impacted by testosterone levels, whether you’re a man or a woman. However, that’s really just the tip of the iceberg. Testosterone is needed for the proper support of most elements related to endurance, strength, or cognition. If your testosterone levels drop, then you’ll quickly find yourself becoming more tired, physically fragile, slower to recover after a workout, and even experiencing a gradual loss of mental clarity.
Myth 3: If you’re active, your testosterone levels are fine
Reality: Willpower can often let people power through a lot of things. Individuals will often push themselves to keep working out even when their mind and body protest. This can mean that some people with low testosterone are still fit. However, fitness doesn’t mean that someone isn’t suffering side effects from low testosterone. Quite the contrary, if their testosterone were higher, they’d be seeing even greater results from their efforts.
Myth 4: Testosterone therapy is dangerous for everyone
Reality: What makes a medicine beneficial is often how it’s leveraged by trained medical professionals. The same substance that heals in the hands of an expert might hurt when self-administered. Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT) is no exception to that rule. It’s safe if done with proper testing, supervision, and expertly determined dosing. It’s only dangerous if untrained individuals are making uneducated decisions about its administration.
Myth 5: All testosterone treatments are the same
There’s a tremendous level of variation between the various forms of testosterone treatment. One of the most important differentiating factors is their method of administration. Consider the difference in onset or duration that’s seen between swallowing a pill and receiving an injection. Likewise, how gels, ointments, or other transdermal options compare to oral administration of those medications. The same is true for testosterone as well. Depo Testosterone is a solid example of that fact. This form of testosterone is injectable and can rapidly restore hormone levels in people who have a clinically diagnosed need for it. Again, the important factor here is the method of administration and the expertise used to diagnose a medical problem and the most beneficial treatment.
Remember These Important Facts About Testosterone
- Low testosterone can impact everyone – even women
- While libido is impacted by low testosterone, so are most aspects of your mind and body
- People can be in good shape and still have low testosterone
- Testosterone therapy is safe when administered with proper medical attention
- The type of testosterone and method of administration can produce different effects
- Low testosterone is ultimately a medical condition and should be given proper medical attention
You’ve seen just how important testosterone is to everyone at this point. It’s not just something old men need to worry about. Rather, low testosterone is an issue that has the same impact and universal distribution as any other hormone imbalance. However, at the same time, treatments are just as available and advisable for low testosterone as for any other medical condition. But medical help is often only available when people consider their symptoms – even the subtle ones that they didn’t initially recognize as such.
It’s this blindness to the symptoms of low testosterone that is ultimately responsible for so much pain and suffering. People who believe the myths, from low testosterone only being a concern of old men to it only impacting libido, won’t recognize their increasingly severe symptoms when they don’t personally fall into those assumptions. This means that years of medical decline occur when they could have been avoided. However, when people separate fact from myth, they’re able to keep their grip on years of great experiences which would have otherwise been stolen by increasingly severe symptoms.