Sign-in to Ask A Doctor - 24x7
OR
Sign in with Google
Suggest Treatment For Shrunken Testicles
Question: Hello, I am 55 years old and my testicles have shrunken substantially and become soft with the associated problems you would expect. This occurred during a time of extended duration of extreme stress....does this make sense ? and should hcg injections fix things ? and if so, how much and for how long and at what monthly cost ? This all came about during a 3 year period of extreme high stress even working 15 hours a day 7 days a week starting a division of a business and doing electronic design work inventing industrial electronic controls and high power circuits. I think the ultimate trigger occurred when I got electrocuted and almost died. I got hold of 700 Vdc and could not let go and finally blacked out which saved my life, because my weight whilst collapsing pulled me loose. Upon awakening, my testicles and groin were killing me and I could hardly walk. I think this zapped the hell out of my testicles somehow and caused them to atrophy and shrink up, and it stunned the hell out of my heart too, but I had an exercise ekg and was fine. was lifting weights at this point in my life trying to maintain some sort of condition prior to the event, but it changed me big time. My T was in the low 200s and doc wanted to put me on T replacement, but I just want to wake my testicles up with HCG and let my own body do what it should without T injections. I think the HCG just might be the ticket to recovery. I take otc t boosters which help some with erections but do not want to have to do that, want my testicles to rebound and do their job. Also concerned with fluoride in water in shower and the gas it creates and I inhale, as I know Stalin put fluoride in water of prisoners to reduce their T and make them more docile and manageable. Have been trying to take less showers and don't drink tap water anymore, please comment on the fluoride. Have been taking zinc, iodine, selenium, vitamin D trying to help matters, even saw many articles and have been trying testicle painting with mixture of these minerals as well, as I have seen iodine painting articles that men swear by, please comment on this too, as they say the scrotum is thin and absorption is good and gets these nutrients right where they need to be
Brief Answer:
testicular health depends on testosterone, not HCG
Detailed Answer:
Hi there, thanks for coming to HealthCareMagic.
The first thing I want to talk about is the normal anatomy and physiology of the testicle. It contains multiple tubules which produce sperm as well as multiple male hormones, testosterone being the major one.
Testosterone is a hormone which is produced from cholesterol and proteins and it is produced by special cells in the testicle itself.
HCG is Human Chorionic Gonadotropin and is produced naturally in women during pregnancy. There are no normal circumstances where HCG would be made in men and it cannot be used to produced testosterone.
If you have low testosterone levels then synthetic testosterones are available in injectable form and that forms the basis of T-Therapy. It is the most well documented and proven way of supplementing levels.
Iodine painting has no basis in medicine. The scrotal skin is thin but it is not designed to absorb things like iodine. There are very few molecules tht can get absorbed through the skin and into the blood stream and basic ions like Iodine would not be able to.
Skin, no matter where it is found on the body has an outer layer of dead cells and keratin (a protein which forms a protective layer). The primary purpose of which is to make it impermeable to outside toxins. So I do not believe that iodine painting would be any benefit to you.
Low T can easily be managed with Testosterone therapy and should help you get your levels back to normal. Stick with your doctor and get the therapy. I believe you'll be better off for it.
I hope this helps. Let me know what you think and I will be happy to follow-up
Vinay
testicular health depends on testosterone, not HCG
Detailed Answer:
Hi there, thanks for coming to HealthCareMagic.
The first thing I want to talk about is the normal anatomy and physiology of the testicle. It contains multiple tubules which produce sperm as well as multiple male hormones, testosterone being the major one.
Testosterone is a hormone which is produced from cholesterol and proteins and it is produced by special cells in the testicle itself.
HCG is Human Chorionic Gonadotropin and is produced naturally in women during pregnancy. There are no normal circumstances where HCG would be made in men and it cannot be used to produced testosterone.
If you have low testosterone levels then synthetic testosterones are available in injectable form and that forms the basis of T-Therapy. It is the most well documented and proven way of supplementing levels.
Iodine painting has no basis in medicine. The scrotal skin is thin but it is not designed to absorb things like iodine. There are very few molecules tht can get absorbed through the skin and into the blood stream and basic ions like Iodine would not be able to.
Skin, no matter where it is found on the body has an outer layer of dead cells and keratin (a protein which forms a protective layer). The primary purpose of which is to make it impermeable to outside toxins. So I do not believe that iodine painting would be any benefit to you.
Low T can easily be managed with Testosterone therapy and should help you get your levels back to normal. Stick with your doctor and get the therapy. I believe you'll be better off for it.
I hope this helps. Let me know what you think and I will be happy to follow-up
Vinay
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj
Hello Doc,
Thank you for your reply. Please take a serious look and read the information in this link where doctors are using HCG to mimic LH and even bodybuilders use it to jump start the testicles post steroid use where they have shut down. From this and many other articles, it seems to be becoming popular to use it with T therapy with an anti aromatase to minimize estrogen. This does mention a change in volume (size) of the testicles sort of in passing but not as much as many other serious articles I have read. http://peaktestosterone.com/Testosterone_HCG.aspx.
Also, would pregnenolone and or DHEA (or both)help or worsen the situation in your opinion .
Thanks
Thank you for your reply. Please take a serious look and read the information in this link where doctors are using HCG to mimic LH and even bodybuilders use it to jump start the testicles post steroid use where they have shut down. From this and many other articles, it seems to be becoming popular to use it with T therapy with an anti aromatase to minimize estrogen. This does mention a change in volume (size) of the testicles sort of in passing but not as much as many other serious articles I have read. http://peaktestosterone.com/Testosterone_HCG.aspx.
Also, would pregnenolone and or DHEA (or both)help or worsen the situation in your opinion .
Thanks
Brief Answer:
Interesting stuff, i have no argument with its use
Detailed Answer:
Hey there. Thanks for the link. I went through it in detail and i'll do you one better. I read through some clinical research put out by MERCK Pharma which sort of supports your idea:
http://www.merck.com/product/usa/pi_circulars/p/pregnyl/pregnyl_pi.pdf
Now. I will agree that small amounts of HCG seem to be able to increase testosterone levels from anywhere between 50 - 300 ng/dl in a person who who is using them regularly.
But what you have given me doesn't get me all the way to assuming that will increase the volume of the testicle.
1) HCG stimulates LH (as you mentioned) and LH Pulses through the body at certain times of the day causing the cells in the testicle to produce testosterone at those times (normally in the morning). I dunno how important that timing is. Would a regular dose of HCG act as another pulse in the afternoon? Or would the cells in the testicle (they are called Leydig cells) be metabolically less active during this time of day due to FSH and cortisol surges that happen later?
2) Other than that note in your article. I have not seen any clinical research that this increase in testosterone will actually increase the size of the testicle.
Now to the question about Pregnenolone... Its a precursor of progestins and estrogens. I don't think it will help in this case.
DHEA on the other hand may help. I've seen people use it for extended periods of time without much in the way of side effects. Be warned though.. the moment you stop using it.. the effect reverses.
Now. Let me just discuss one last thing with you. Why? Why not go for synthetic testosterone therapy and bypass all of this research that is on pretty thin ice? I may agree with the science, and I was wrong in saying that HCG can't be used to produce testosterone (well it can't but it increases LH and blah blah).
But empirically speaking, traditional testosterone therapies have been around for quite awhile now and they work well. Why use supplements that are not that closely monitored and use hormones that are not natural to the body in the first place (HCG may be similar in activity to LH.. but it's not the same).
Just a thought. Leme know what you are thinking.
Vin
Interesting stuff, i have no argument with its use
Detailed Answer:
Hey there. Thanks for the link. I went through it in detail and i'll do you one better. I read through some clinical research put out by MERCK Pharma which sort of supports your idea:
http://www.merck.com/product/usa/pi_circulars/p/pregnyl/pregnyl_pi.pdf
Now. I will agree that small amounts of HCG seem to be able to increase testosterone levels from anywhere between 50 - 300 ng/dl in a person who who is using them regularly.
But what you have given me doesn't get me all the way to assuming that will increase the volume of the testicle.
1) HCG stimulates LH (as you mentioned) and LH Pulses through the body at certain times of the day causing the cells in the testicle to produce testosterone at those times (normally in the morning). I dunno how important that timing is. Would a regular dose of HCG act as another pulse in the afternoon? Or would the cells in the testicle (they are called Leydig cells) be metabolically less active during this time of day due to FSH and cortisol surges that happen later?
2) Other than that note in your article. I have not seen any clinical research that this increase in testosterone will actually increase the size of the testicle.
Now to the question about Pregnenolone... Its a precursor of progestins and estrogens. I don't think it will help in this case.
DHEA on the other hand may help. I've seen people use it for extended periods of time without much in the way of side effects. Be warned though.. the moment you stop using it.. the effect reverses.
Now. Let me just discuss one last thing with you. Why? Why not go for synthetic testosterone therapy and bypass all of this research that is on pretty thin ice? I may agree with the science, and I was wrong in saying that HCG can't be used to produce testosterone (well it can't but it increases LH and blah blah).
But empirically speaking, traditional testosterone therapies have been around for quite awhile now and they work well. Why use supplements that are not that closely monitored and use hormones that are not natural to the body in the first place (HCG may be similar in activity to LH.. but it's not the same).
Just a thought. Leme know what you are thinking.
Vin
Note: For further follow up on related General & Family Physician Click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj
Answered by
Get personalised answers from verified doctor in minutes across 80+ specialties
