Every function in your body, from your sleep-wake cycle to how your body metabolizes energy, is orchestrated by chemical messengers called hormones. When the 50-plus hormones in your body are balanced, life is good and everything is functioning as it should.
When there’s an imbalance, however, the opposite is true and malfunctions can occur, which is often the case with a testosterone deficiency. And there are millions of men in the United States who can attest to this — between 10% and 40% of men have a testosterone deficiency.
Dr. Robert J. Cornell and the team here at our urology practice are experts in men's health, which means we have seen — and treated — a large number of patients with low testosterone.
Low T, as it’s colloquially known, can be far-reaching when it comes to your overall health and wellness. This point is illustrated by the wide range of low T symptoms, several of which we review here.
Your testosterone level is directly tied to your libido, so an obvious and frustrating sign of low T is a low sex drive. Making matters worse, even if your sex drive is intact, another side effect of a testosterone deficiency is erectile dysfunction (ED).
So, whether you have a low libido, ED, or both, your sex life can be directly affected by low T.
Another common side effect of a testosterone deficiency is the loss of armpit hair and/or pubic hair.
In general, men have more lean muscle than women, and this anatomical difference is fueled by the presence of testosterone. This hormone is associated with your more male characteristics, which include muscle mass. So, when you lose testosterone, you can also lose muscle.
Another common complaint among men with low T is fatigue. This symptom may be tied to the aforementioned decline in lean muscle, but the overall fatigue often extends beyond muscle loss and describes a general lack of energy.
Testosterone can also affect your mental health, and men with low T often report moodiness, irritability, and depression. These changes in mood can be attributed to the lower-than-normal testosterone or they might be tied to the other side effects. A lower sex drive can dampen your mood, for example. Or, mood changes can be both direct and indirect results of low T, which is most often the case.
This list isn’t complete, but our goal was to give you an idea of the breadth and scope that low T can have on your health and wellness.
The good news is that we have ways to correct the imbalance through hormone replacement therapies and lifestyle changes so you can get back to feeling like yourself again.
For experienced and expert diagnosis and treatment of low testosterone, we invite you to contact our office in Houston, Texas, to schedule an appointment.
