Blood Test for Testosterone Levels in Beverly Hills CA
Have you ever had to sit for a test that had you completely baffled? Even if the only time this has happened to you would have been during your school days, you probably still remember how uncomfortable and panicky it made you feel.
However, there is nothing about undergoing a simple blood test for testosterone levels in Beverly Hills CA that is going to cause you to relive those feelings again, especially if you spend just a few moments now in reviewing the basic medical principles that apply to this category of clinical blood serum testing.
There can be several reasons for doctors and particularly endocrine specialists to order testosterone testing for patients.
Some of these would be:
- to find the cause of male osteoporosis
- to check on the possible causes of male infertility
- to see if a patient’s testosterone-reducing medications (such as those prescribed for prostate cancer) are being effective
- and even to determine why a female patient is experiencing irregular menstruation.
The primary reason for Kingsberg Medical to order a blood test for testosterone levels in Beverly Hills CA performed for any of our patients would be to determine if they have become testosterone deficient.
As specialists in treating adult-onset testosterone deficiency (along with the human growth hormone deficiencies that adults sometimes develop), Kingsberg Medical fully appreciates the clinical value offered by the blood tests that we and other providers use to gauge the amount of hormones that our adult patients are biologically producing. When that amount is found to be medically insufficient to support optimal health, we will typically prescribe hormone replacement therapy for them.
Understanding Your Free and Total Testosterone Levels
Being confident that you are understanding everything your health care provider discusses with you is an empowering feeling and in discussing your blood test for testosterone levels in Beverly Hills CA, most likely before your test even takes place, you will probably hear about two types of testosterone that your body contains: total and free. You might also hear the term bioavailable used in describing your body’s testosterone supply.
While extremely lucid to physicians, these various categorizations of a single hormone can frequently and understandably cause some confusion for hormone therapy patients. So here is a basic explanation: The majority of the testosterone circulating in your blood stream is bound to a protein known as SHBG (sex hormone binding globulin); the remainder, which is unbound, exists as “free” hormone.
However, testing of a patient’s free levels is usually reserved for certain kinds of kidney disease and the condition called hyperthyroidism. Your blood test for testosterone levels in Beverly Hills CA will be performed to measure your total or bioavailable levels because that will better indicate a condition of progressive deficiency to our doctors.
Certain reference values have been clinically determined and organized by age and gender for physicians to compare your testosterone blood test results against. Levels that are below the reference range, or are at the lowest end of the range, will be evaluated in combination with your symptoms to reach a diagnosis of hormone deficiency.
How the Low T Blood Test Will Be Performed and Evaluated
Knowing exactly what to expect in advance of having your blood test for testosterone levels in Beverly Hills CA performed can also prevent needless confusion or nervousness. So right up front, we will tell you that you will not have to follow any of the special preparations that many clinical tests require.
Your doctor, however, may want to schedule you for a morning blood test since this when your testosterone levels are typically going to be at their highest point of the day.
The laboratory professional performing your test (and this part is simply a refresher for anyone who has not had a blood draw test performed in a while) will first wrap a band around your upper arm to constrict blood flow and enlarge the veins below the band making them easier to access.
The site where your blood be will drawn out will be cleaned with an alcohol swipe. After inserting a needle into your vein, a syringe and tube will be attached to collect your blood into a laboratory vial. Once the vial has been filled, the band will be removed; gauze will be placed and held on the site with mild pressure for a few moments; and a small adhesive bandage will be applied before you leave.
This is the entire procedure from start to finish used in your blood test for testosterone levels in Beverly Hills CA. The band used to restrict blood flow will probably feel tight for the minute or two that it is on your arm and you might (or might not) feel a brief pinch or sting when the needle is being inserted into your vein.
There are very few risks involved and any after-effects are usually extremely minor, such as a bruise or temporary swelling at the needle insertion site. However, if you have a history of bleeding or c isslottingues, or are currently taking a blood thinning medication, you should definitely make the laboratory professional aware of this prior to having your test administered.
We Can Schedule Your Testosterone Levels Blood Test Now
The procedure that we’ve described is an easy and fast one; and so is setting up your local blood test for testosterone levels in Beverly Hills CA when you ask Kingsberg Medical to handle it for you. We do this for adults every day and you could conceivably call us when you have finished reading this today to have us schedule your test – it is as uncomplicated as that.
Equally as straightforward and simplified is our process for providing you with effective medical treatment, in Beverly Hills, for your adult testosterone deficiency. You will need to have a routine physical exam (no explanation needed for that, we trust) and we will also want our doctors to be able to review your medical history before actually prescribing any treatment program for you. Yet we have even streamlined the completion of both of these preparatory steps for your added convenience.
In the same effortless way that we can schedule your blood test for testosterone levels in Beverly Hills CA, we can also schedule your local exam with one of our doctors; and we have provided you with an online method for submitting the pertinent details of your medical history to us (you will see the simple to complete form to use for this because it is right here on this website).
Now that the blood testing procedure used to detect a testosterone deficiency has been “deconstructed” for you, you are probably feeling much more relaxed about getting one – and you should be. Low T is one of simpler medical problems to have corrected and at Kingsberg Medical we do not believe that there is any advantage in needlessly confusing patients by overcomplicating its treatment.
We believe that the best advantage any patient can receive is having is a doctor who knows and can explain exactly what they are doing and why.
