Women and men considering hormone replacement therapy from New Orleans to Lafayette almost always ask the same thing after deciding to start HRT: “How am I going to take it?” The answer varies, depending on the person’s health, symptoms, personal preference, and what he or she wants to get out of the treatment.
That’s why at Rejuvime Medical, we offer multiple forms of delivery for the convenience of our patients. Oral regimens, injections, creams, and pellets are our most common forms of delivery. In this blog post, we’ll look at the benefits of each delivery method and why some patients might prefer one form over another.
What Are Different Ways to Take Hormones?
The 4 most common ways to administer hormones as part of hormone replacement therapy are pills, injections, creams, and pellets. Not every delivery method is necessarily used for the different types of hormones used for therapy. For example, testosterone is usually either injected or delivered in a cream, but it’s not taken orally because of concerns about negative side effects.
Oral regimens (pills): Oral medication is a common form of estrogen replacement therapy. Taking pills is something that most people are used to, and it’s easy to do. On the other hand, some people have difficulty remembering to take oral medications. As stated earlier, whether a person can benefit from hormone replacement therapy using pills often depends on the symptoms being experienced and the desired outcomes. DHEA therapy is often administered orally.
Injections: Testosterone replacement therapy is often administered using injections. Even though some people may consider having to inject themselves weekly or even twice a week as inconvenient, that also can be seen as a benefit. When considering injections versus pellets, for example, injections offer more flexibility to adjust the dose because of the shorter half-life. Pellets last an average of 3 months after implantation, so adjusting the dose during that period isn’t possible.
Creams: The advantage of gels and creams is that they are convenient and easily applied. A drawback is that they can sometimes be messy; they may also be inadvertently transferred by physical contact to your spouse, significant other, children, or others. Creams or gels are absorbed through the skin and enter the bloodstream directly, which is better than oral therapies for patients with liver or cholesterol concerns. It’s important to allow creams to dry before putting on clothes.
Pellets: As mentioned when discussing injections, the advantage of hormone replacement therapy using pellets is also a potential downside. After we insert pellets, you can expect they’ll last 90 days before being completely absorbed by the body. That means you only need to visit our office 4 times a year. On the other hand, adjusting the dose isn’t possible if things change during those 90 days. Pellets are placed under the skin during a procedure that involves injecting the area with a local anesthetic.
At Rejuvime Medical, our experienced providers can help you navigate the options and come up with a treatment path that’s ideal for your situation. Whether you’re seeking hormone replacement therapy to revive low libido or as an anti-aging treatment, men and women from New Orleans and throughout Louisiana rely on us for medically supervised therapy.
You can contact us using the online form to request a consultation or call us at one of our locations. Call (225) 960-1580 (Baton Rouge) or (504) 252-9579 (Metairie).
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