26 May The Physical Side of Low Testosterone
There are lots of side effects of low testosterone, including emotional, mental, and physical. Today we’re focusing on a couple of the symptoms of low testosterone that you can actually see with your own eyes. While these indicators aren’t the only way to gauge whether or not you might have low testosterone levels, they’re definitely a start. Here are the most common physical side effects of low testosterone.
You’re Gaining Weight, and It’s Not Muscle
There are two places you’ll probably notice it the most: your belly and your chest area.
When it comes to your gut, low testosterone plays part in a vicious cycle. In fact, one study found that waist circumference is one of the key indicators of hormonal imbalance. That being said, it’s important to realize that there are exceptions—not everyone with low testosterone has a potbelly, and not everyone with a large waistline has low testosterone—but a lot of people with low testosterone have a larger gut. That’s because testosterone helps burn fat, so low levels of testosterone means your body isn’t burning as much fat as it normally would.
But low testosterone and and increased belly fat is kind of a double whammy. When your testosterone levels are low, your body stores more fat. At the same time, abdominal fat converts your testosterone into estrogen, and estrogen causes your body to store even more fat (especially abdominal fat), and the vicious cycle continues.
If your belly fat is converting testosterone into estrogen, your estrogen levels are going to get higher than they normally are. We already talked about how estrogen is responsible for making your body store fat, but higher estrogen levels can also enlarge the breast tissue, or gynecomastia. If you’ve seen this happening to your body, getting your testosterone levels back to normal with testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) will probably help.
In Fact, You’re Losing Muscle
At first, you’ll probably notice that your average weights a the gym feel a little heavier or that you get tired more quickly than you used to. After that, you’ll probably start seeing the physical manifestations: your muscles will lose some of their shape and tone. Testosterone is one of the hormones responsible for building muscle mass, and several studies have found that muscle and strength loss is linked directly to low testosterone levels. When the muscle starts disappearing because of low testosterone, fat often takes its place (like we were just talking about).
Now, we need to mention that if your levels are already normal, then getting TRT to make your levels high-normal won’t help you gain any additional muscle (here’s the study that talks about that).
If you’ve noticed any of these symptoms, call LT Men’s Clinic today at (817) 416-5698 and schedule an appointment. We’ll test your levels to see whether or not they’re low, and if they are, we’ll work with you to figure out the best treatment to get your levels back on track.
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