Can Penis Size Reduce If Low Testosterone

Testosterone is crucial for building muscle and fueling your sex drive.

Only receptors for the hormone actually exist throughout your trunk, from your brain to your bones to your blood vessels.

And so if you're low on T, the health consequences could extend far across the gym and the bedroom, says University of Washington endocrinologist Bradley Anawalt, M.D., a spokesperson for the Endocrine Gild.

Related: 5 Easy Ways to Increase Your Testosterone

The eight symptoms that follow aren't proof of depression testosterone on their ain. You'll demand two blood tests showing low levels—usually around 300 nanograms per declileter (ng/dL) or lower, depending on the lab—before your doc makes an official low testosterone diagnosis, Dr. Anawalt says.

The good news is, if low T is truly to blame, many of the health side furnishings of low testosterone tin can be reversed, or at to the lowest degree improved, with testosterone therapy.

Oh, and how does your sex drive work? Like this:

1. Low testosterone symptom: Your sexual practice drive disappears.

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Perhaps the all-time-known, quickest, and near common effect of low T is depression libido, says urologist Philip Werthman, M.D., manager of the Middle for Male Reproductive Medicine and Vasectomy Reversal in Los Angeles.

In fact, virtually every patient who comes to his office with known or suspected depression T complains of a lack of sexual appetite. Besides wanting less sex, men with low T may likewise masturbate less and report fewer fantasies and erotic dreams.

Related: 7 Crazy Things That Happen When Y'all Sleep

Encephalon areas involved with sexual desire, including the amygdala, are packed with testosterone receptors, says Due south. Adam Ramin, M.D., urologic surgeon and medical director of Urology Cancer Specialists in Los Angeles.

The hormone fits inside them similar a lock inside a central, lighting them upwards to arouse you. Without information technology, you lot're missing a critical stride in the turn-on process.

This lack of desire to have sexual practice can crusade problems with erections, though low T doesn't directly touch on the plumbing involved in getting or staying difficult, Dr. Ramin says.

Related: The Men's Health Guide To Erectile Dysfunction: What Causes It, How to Fix It, and How to Avoid It

2. Low testosterone symptom: Your muscles shrink.

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Ample testosterone puts your torso in an anabolic, or muscle-building, state by helping your trunk produce and assemble proteins that form the building blocks of lean mass.

When your testosterone levels drop, your body turns catabolic instead, breaking down muscle tissue instead of building it upwards, Dr. Werthman says.

At first, you might discover that it's tougher to push as much weight at the gym or build muscle, he notes.

Related: What'southward the Almost Muscle You Tin can Gain?

And after a few weeks of depression T, you can wait to lose muscle mass, Dr. Anawalt says.

In fact, in ane Japanese study, men with low gratuitous testosterone levels—a measure of the corporeality of hormone bachelor to bind to receptors—had double to triple the hazard of muscle loss with aging as those with normal levels.

3. Low testosterone symptom: Your penis may get smaller, too.

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Without a steady flow of testosterone, the tissues in your penis, scrotum, and testicles can atrophy, or shrivel, says Dr. Ramin.

As a result, your penis might lose length and girth. You may notice your balls shrink, besides—they often shrivel to one-half the size and plow squishy instead of firm, he says.

Related: Why Your Penis May Shorten 50 Percent In the Winter

Though testosterone replacement therapy won't bring back your testicular volume, when it comes to your penis, the handling "has a expert chance of restoring its glory," Dr. Ramin says. (In fact, testosterone therapy in boys with a micropenis tin can increase their size by up to an inch and a half, co-ordinate to a written report in the Indian Periodical of Urology.)

4. Depression testosterone symptom: Your abdomen grows.

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Even as you lose size where it counts, you gain it where information technology hurts, Dr. Anawalt says.

In one Australian study, men with prostate cancer gained xiv percent more than body fat and 22 percent more visceral fat after one year of androgen deprivation therapy, a treatment which turns off testosterone's effects.

Visceral fat is the deep intestinal fat that forms around your organs and increases your chance for diabetes and eye illness.

Related: METASHRED Extreme—the Ultimate Fitness Programme From Men'south Health Designed to Shred Body Fat and Max Out Musculus Growth At the Aforementioned Time

In men, low testosterone may increase the activity of an enzyme called lipoprotein lipase, the report authors suspect. This chemical compound drives circulating edifice blocks chosen lipids into visceral fatty cells, plumping them upward.

5. Low testosterone symptom: Your retentiveness falters.

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Trouble with thinking and memory often occurs in men with low T, Dr. Werthman says.

In 2015 report from Australia, men whose testosterone levels declined over 5 years also experienced a driblet in scores on tests of their mental function and memory.

Related: 6 Easy Fixes Y'all Can Do Today to Improve Your Memory

Besides the amygdala, areas of the encephalon important for memory and attention—such as the cerebrum—likewise have testosterone receptors.

When there'south not enough of the hormone pumping in to those receptors, your brain cells may not be able to function besides, the study authors note.

half dozen. Low testosterone symptom: Your mood tanks.

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Some of the side effects of low testosterone—such as sexual dysfunction and weight gain—tin bring on the blues. But there'southward likewise evidence of a more than direct outcome of low testosterone on mood.

Co-ordinate to enquiry in the Endocrine Journal, 23 percent of immature men with newly diagnosed low testosterone met the criteria for depression, compared to only five percent of young guys with normal levels of the hormone.

Related: Road Rage, Daydreaming, and vii Other Strange Predictors Of Depression

Empty testosterone receptors in brain areas linked to mood are likely responsible for your depressed state, Dr. Ramin says.

What'south more, mood disorders like depression or anxiety can kick off a vicious wheel, he notes—low tin can suppress your testicles' ability to produce testosterone, worsening the problem.

7. Depression testosterone symptom: Your bones weaken.

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Bone is actually living tissue, constantly broken downwards and rebuilt, Dr. Ramin says.

When testosterone levels fall, your bone breaks downward faster than your body tin can build it back up.

Related: How Running and Lifting Brand Your Bones Stronger

Every bit a effect, yous're at a higher risk of depression os density, osteoporosis, and fractures, Dr. Anawalt says.

8. Low testosterone symptom: Your heart might be at risk.

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The result of testosterone levels on the risk of eye problems has stoked controversy amongst experts, Dr. Anawalt says.

On one side, low levels of testosterone may be linked to eye issues. In fact, i study from the U.K. constitute men with low T had a greater risk of dying from heart illness than men with normal levels.

This may be because testosterone can help open up claret vessels to the heart, allowing blood to menstruation more than freely.

Simply on the flip side, some studies accept suggested that testosterone therapy—especially in older men or those with existing eye weather condition—might increase the risk of heart attack or stroke. Experts think it may thicken the blood, making a jell more likely.

Related: 30 Easy Ways to Save Your Eye Today

It seems that the actress testosterone might be raising levels too high, Dr. Anawalt says.

Then if you're a candidate for testosterone therapy, brand sure yous talk to your medico about the benefits and the risks, Dr. Werthman says.

Your medico may test your testosterone levels after you kickoff kickoff therapy or change dosages—or sometimes between shots, if you're receiving treatment by injection—to make sure your levels aren't surging too high, Dr. Anawalt says.