Do you want to learn if testosterone injections hurt? Read this post to learn if this is true and why.
When men reach 30 years old, the levels of testosterone are being gradually decreased by 1% each year.
The speed of decreasing the T-hormone levels depends on a person’s lifestyle, overall health state, genetics, and more. So, once someone is prescribed testosterone injections, there’s a question that may ‘haunt’ them, and it sounds like: ‘Do testosterone injections hurt?’
Of course, the feeling of pain is individual and different for every person. When it comes to shots, especially IM (intramuscular) ones, people always feel pain, be it mild or severe, as the process is intrusive when the needle goes through the layers of the skin and reaches muscles. This sounds a bit painful, however, there are some factors you should be aware of:
- pain tolerance or threshold (we feel pain differently);
- the type of administration (like IM, intravenous or subcutaneous);
- the needle size (size matters);
- types of oil (those found in testosterone solutions);
- types of testosterone injections (high- or low-quality medications);
- site of shots (a place on the body where your injection is made).
When IM injection is being administered, a slight pinching feeling is quite normal and soreness after that can be felt from 1 to 3 days. However, as patients claim, such pain is almost not felt at all after the injection. So, do testosterone injections hurt? To some extent, yes, they hurt, but the strain of the pain is quite a subjective feeling.
Do testosterone shots hurt? Things To Consider
Who should administer testosterone injections to you? Actually, you can make them on your own, but if you’re not sure as to your ability, you better seek professional help. If you receive the treatment for the first time, you should be injected by the physician or nurse.
If you’d like to self-administer testosterone injections, here is a simple guide:
Learn the testosterone concentration: You should know the amount to be injected, as this should have been identified before receiving your medication, and, you should not choose concentrations randomly without consultations and prescriptions by any means.
Buy and use a clean and sterile syringe with a needle: There are no non-disposable syringes for such injections, it is better to use one-off syringes for this purpose. Every item should be sterile and new when it comes to syringe and needle. Don’t forget that you should choose the proper needle size.
Consider the sanitation: Your hands should be clean and sanitized as well. This will help to reduce the risk of infection. Be sure that you administer testosterone injections in clean surroundings.
Draw up a dose and take it in with the syringe: You should fill out the syringe with the dose you have been prescribed, not more. Then you should blow the syringe out so that you will get rid of air bubbles, which may cause an embolism, a side effect of the improper injection.
Find the site to inject: As testosterone injections are generally IM ones, you should know where to administer this medication. Generally, there are two frequently recommended sites like the upper arm (location of deltoid muscle) or butt cheek. However, there are also some other sites, but the main point is that the place of injection should be cleansed.
Inject and take care of the injected site: You should hold the syringe 90 to the skin and press it to the site quickly. After inserting the dose of the injection, take out the syringe slightly to avoid sudden pain. If you feel some discomfort or experience heavy breathing, you need to contact your doctor.
Factors to Consider Before Taking Testosterone Injections
Do testosterone injections hurt? Well, you’ll feel slight pain after a shot. However, considering the complexity of this treatment and medication itself, there are some factors you should look through. They are listed below:
Pain Threshold and Tolerance
Do you remember those funny videos where children and adults are scared of shots? However, there are videos of braver ones who are not afraid of injections, and thereby, it’s clear that pain is something that varies from one person to another.
There’s a notion called ‘the threshold of pain’ which means that every person has a minimal level of being able to withstand the pain and the maximum level of bearing the pain known as pain tolerance. The fact is that different people have different pain thresholds and tolerance, so they feel the pain very differently. So, the question ‘do testosterone injections hurt’ is a bit individual.
It’s only your own experience that will determine how you can tolerate the pain, since, as was mentioned above, shots are intrusive and that means you’ll feel some unwanted sensations.
Of course, there are some ways of making the injection site numb with ice or creams, but if it’s not the first time you receive shots, there’s no need for the extra hassle.
IM vs Subcutaneous Testosterone Injections
Subcutaneous injection is milder than IM shots since, in the case of the first type, the needle goes below the skin but not deeper like in the second type of administration. This means that subcutaneous injections have less painful intrusion and thus, they tend to have less soreness after injection.
The pain levels here are determined by the level of penetration, and IM testosterone injections tend to be more painful as they penetrate all levels of the skin, and since the major shots for treating low testosterone levels are the IM ones, you’ll feel a bit discomfort.
However, are there differences in the types of injections? Although many believe that IM shots yield better results in the absorption of the medication, subcutaneous injections have proven to be efficient as well. Thus, it’s hard to say that there’s an evident difference between these methods, so when visiting a doctor, you may ask for a subcutaneous injection type of testosterone.
Comparing Oils in Solutions
You may be tolerant of injection soreness and opt for subcutaneous injection, but still, there’s an interesting point regarding the oils inside the solutions of testosterone medication.
When choosing the proper brand of testosterone injections, you will mostly find them with cottonseed oil in the list of ingredients, as it’s considered to be an efficient ‘tool’ for storing testosterone. However, it’s reported that some patients may complain about the pain after testosterone injections due to higher levels of the oil’s viscosity.
Another problem with cottonseed oil is that it’s administered mainly in IM injections, and thus, it’s challenging to use this oil for subcutaneous shots. So, there’s an alternative to this like grapeseed oil with lower levels of viscosity and proper to be used in injections beneath the skin. If people are sensitive to cottonseed oil, grapeseed oil can be a great alternative.
Types of Medication
Why do testosterone injections hurt? The main reason can be behind the type of the medication, or better say testosterone ester. On the market, you can find esters like propionate, cypionate, undecanoate, and other combinations. Each of these esters may have specific side effects or irritative effects causing soreness after testosterone injections.
For example, propionate is known to cause some inflammation and pain after administration because of ester specific nature.
Some patients feeling discomfort from propionate may switch to mixed ester combinations which have proven to be less painful. There are cases when a patient’s skin demonstrates an allergic response to the medications based on their chemical substance variations. Hence, you better seek the help of a physician if any particular ester causes discomfort or pain after the injection.
Technique and Site of Testosterone Injection
Before receiving your medication, it’s important that a special technique is used and it’s important to choose the site for the injection to reduce the pain during the process of administration. In the simple guide above, there are small steps on how you can self-administer the medication properly. But don’t forget that if you inject in the same place all the time, this site can beсome more sensitive for pain and discomfort after the injection.
Please be informed that any injection technique can be applied to different sites on your body, and thus, you better avoid being injected in one site all the time. Generally, when it comes to testosterone shots, it’s all about being attentive, keep it clean and gentle. The better technique is followed, the less pain it may cause.
Testosterone Injection Site Pain
If the injections are not made frequently, it may make you feel less pain after they are administered since the body absorbs shots and gets used to them. If testosterone is administered properly and made in different sites on the body, the injection soreness is reduced. In both subcutaneous and IM ways of administration, there are enough sites to switch between injections.
Leg Sore After Testosterone Shot
Pain while getting a shot is quite a common feeling, and especially, if the person is not used to receiving them. However, when it comes to leg pain after IM injection, one should not delay contacting the doctor ASAP, as this condition may be due to nerve damage because of the incorrect or inattentive injection.
Soreness After Testosterone Injection
Injection soreness depends on the person, and if you wonder. ‘do testosterone injections hurt?’, the answer is ‘they may hurt and cause pain due to several factors including the pain threshold and tolerance and the way of administration.’ It’s clear that the injection soreness you feel after testosterone is received may also depend on your medication type, oil inside the solution, the proper syringe and needle, and how careful administration is.
In any case, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our experts for qualified advice.
A “testosterone before and after the replacement therapy, how does it feel?” This is the question that bothers many men before starting the treatment. Is it worth it? What to expect? Is there a health hazard? Is a low T self-diagnosis true? This article will help you to find out the answers to all these questions.