Many people read articles about the negative aspects of professional athletes who use testosterone to boost their performance and conclude that any use of testosterone is harmful. I am no exception. I came to find out that although the manner in which bodybuilders and professional athletes use testosterone can be harmful to them in the long run, testosterone can actually be beneficial for the average person to heal from injuries when they are properly administered by a qualified health professional. Doctors are using bioidentical hormones in Utah for this purpose every day.
Not long ago I visited my doctor about a pain in my shoulder that developed several months ago and never seemed to get better. He recommended the use of testosterone to treat the pain and inflammation. I was a little reluctant to use testosterone because I had read that testosterone will convert to estrogen when used therapeutically. My doctor reassured me that this would not be a problem for me. He explained that people in their twenties and thirties who are in top shape in terms of testosterone production do not covert testosterone into estrogen because this does not happen when the body produces testosterone at normal levels. By contrast, estrogen conversion will occur when people frequently use massive doses of synthetic hormones. He told me that his administration of bioidentical hormones would more closely match the amount of testosterone normally produced by my body.
I also expressed concern to my doctor that I had read that using testosterone can increase the risk of developing prostate cancer. This was of particular concern to me because my father had been diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer ten years ago. My doctor reassured me that there is no current medical research that he is aware of to support the contention that using testosterone in proper doses increases the risk of prostate cancer. In fact, he explained that there is evidence to suggest that testosterone therapy actually serves to decrease the risk of developing prostate cancer in men.
Finally I expressed concern that I had heard using testosterone will cause my hair to fall out. My doctor reassured me on this point as well. He explained that the documented correlation between the use of testosterone and hair loss occurs because the human body will sometimes convert testosterone into a chemical called DHT or Dihydrotestosterone. DHT is thought to be responsible for the condition called male pattern baldness. The conversion of testosterone to DHT varies according to an individual’s unique genetic make up. My doctor then told me that if I do have a genetic predisposition for male pattern baldness that the DHT production could be counterbalanced medically. Luckily on this front I do not have this genetic predisposition.
My doctor then asked me if I had any additional concerns regarding using testosterone. When I expressed I had none he told me he could make an appointment to begin hormone therapy in his Salt Lake City office. It turned out that the testosterone worked well and my shoulder pain resolved quickly.
