Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT) in Chicagoland

Testosterone replacement therapy supplies testosterone the body is no longer producing in sufficient quantity. The clinical goal is specific and measurable: move a laboratory-confirmed low serum testosterone level back toward the normal reference range, and to track it with ongoing monitoring. Individual response varies.

Testosterone is produced primarily in the testes in men and in smaller amounts by the ovaries and adrenal glands in women. Production can decline with age or as a result of an underlying medical condition. When a blood test documents that decline, replacement therapy is used to raise the circulating level using a prescribed, pharmaceutical-grade form of the hormone.

What separates supervised replacement from an over-the-counter supplement is the measurement. Your nurse practitioner sets a starting dose from your baseline labs, then re-tests and adjusts. The endpoint being tracked is your serum testosterone number and the safety markers alongside it, not a self-reported impression of how a given week went.

Testosterone is a federally controlled substance in Schedule III. It is prescribed and dispensed only under an established clinical relationship with documented laboratory justification, which is why Express Med Spa cannot begin therapy from a phone call or continue it without periodic follow-up labs.

Every element of your plan is built from laboratory data, which is why the lab draw comes before the prescription rather than after it.

The core measurement is total testosterone, drawn at our clinics starting at $91. Because testosterone follows a daily rhythm and reads highest earlier in the day, the draw is scheduled in the early morning and in a fasting state. A low result is then confirmed with a second early-morning fasting test on a separate day before a deficiency is diagnosed, which is the standard current clinical guidelines set.

Baseline testing generally runs alongside other panels available in house, which may include:

• Complete Blood Count (CBC): establishes your baseline hematocrit, the marker watched most closely once therapy begins, since testosterone can raise red blood cell concentration.
• Prostate Cancer Screening (PSA): obtained before starting therapy in men, and repeated during treatment at intervals your nurse practitioner sets from your age and risk factors.
• Comprehensive Metabolic Panel (CMP) and Lipid Panel: general health context for ongoing therapy.
• Estradiol, LH and FSH: help distinguish where in the hormonal pathway the shortfall originates.

Labs are repeated after therapy begins and periodically thereafter. Those follow-up numbers are what justify holding a dose steady, raising it, lowering it, or stopping treatment. Full lab pricing is listed on our pricing page.

Injections are the most common route and the most flexible one. Express Med Spa doses intramuscular testosterone at three strengths, priced per administration:

• 100mg: starting at $35
• 150mg: starting at $45
• 200mg: starting at $55

These are the strengths we stock, not three alternative weekly regimens. You receive one dose on one schedule, both set from your baseline labs and adjusted from follow-up testing. Injections repeat on a regular interval, commonly weekly, because serum levels rise after a dose and taper before the next one.

You have two options for administration. Many patients self-administer at home, and we provide injection training so the technique, site rotation and sharps handling are covered before you do it independently. For patients who would rather not inject themselves, the in-office administration visit exists specifically for that, and is available at any of our four clinics.

The practical advantage of injections is adjustability. If a follow-up lab shows your level landing too high or too low, the next dose can change immediately. That makes injections a sensible starting route while your ideal dose is still being established.

Pellets are small, compressed cylinders of testosterone placed just beneath the skin, usually in the upper hip or buttock area. Once in place they dissolve slowly and release hormone continuously, which reduces, without eliminating, the peak-and-trough pattern of a weekly injection schedule.

Placement is a short in-office procedure. The site is numbed with local anesthetic, a very small incision is made, the pellets are inserted with an applicator, and the site is closed and dressed. Most people are back to ordinary activity the same day, with a short restriction on heavy exertion and on submerging the site.

Express Med Spa implants pellets for both men and women, dosed differently:

• Pellet implantation, female: starting at $350, based on a standard 1 to 2 pellets depending on lab results. There is no FDA-approved testosterone product for women, so this is prescribed off label, and the dosing and the risks are reviewed with you at consultation
• Pellet implantation, male: starting at $550, based on a standard course of 6 pellets

Women considering pellets as part of a broader hormonal picture should also read our menopause and perimenopause hormone therapy page, since testosterone is often only one component of that plan.

A placement lasts roughly 4 to 6 months before replacement is due. The tradeoff is fixed dosing: once the pellets are in, the delivered dose cannot be readily adjusted until they finish dissolving, and if treatment has to be stopped early, the pellets may need to be surgically removed. That is the main reason we often establish a stable dose with injections first, then move to pellets for convenience.

Starting therapy at Express Med Spa runs in a fixed order, and the order matters.

Visit one, consultation with labs. Your nurse practitioner takes a full medical history, performs a physical exam, and reviews your symptoms, medications and personal and family health history. Blood is then drawn. Consultation with labs starts at $360 without insurance, or at $99 with insurance. Plan on roughly 30 to 45 minutes.

Results review. Once your panel returns, we go through the actual numbers with you in plain language and explain what each one means. If your labs do not document a deficiency, we say so, and we do not prescribe testosterone. If something else in the panel needs attention, your nurse practitioner will tell you and discuss the appropriate next step.

Treatment. If therapy is appropriate, we agree on a route and a dose. An injection visit is brief, often 15 minutes or less. A pellet implantation runs closer to 30 minutes including numbing and dressing the site.

Follow-up with labs, starting at $59. Repeat testing confirms where your level landed and whether your hematocrit and other markers are holding steady. This visit is part of treatment, not an optional add-on, and it continues for as long as you remain on therapy.

Testosterone replacement is ongoing care, not a single procedure with an endpoint, and its timeline is best described in terms of what the labs show.

First weeks. Serum testosterone begins responding quickly once therapy starts. Bloodwork usually reflects movement within the first few weeks, with most patients reaching a clearer picture of where their level is settling around 3 to 6 weeks in. This is when the first dose adjustment is most likely.

Ongoing cadence. Injections continue on their repeating schedule, most commonly weekly, and each dose is timed so your level does not fall too far before the next one. Pellets hold for approximately 4 to 6 months, after which a replacement placement is scheduled. Many pellet patients settle into two to three placements per year.

Monitoring, indefinitely. Follow-up labs continue for the duration of therapy, at intervals your nurse practitioner sets. Hematocrit is rechecked because testosterone can raise red blood cell concentration, PSA is monitored in men, and blood pressure is checked because testosterone products can raise it. Treatment is paused or adjusted if a marker moves out of range.

If treatment stops. Testosterone replacement suppresses your own production while you are on it. After therapy is discontinued, recovery of natural production is variable and can take months rather than weeks, and sperm production can take longer still. Stopping is a decision to make with your nurse practitioner rather than on your own.

This is the decision most patients are actually weighing, and there is no universally correct answer. The two routes deliver the same hormone and differ in how it reaches you.

• Dosing control: injections win. A dose can be changed at the very next administration. Pellets deliver a fixed amount until they finish dissolving.
• Level stability: pellets win. Continuous release reduces the rise and taper that occurs between injections, though it does not remove it.
• Visit frequency: pellets win. Two to three placements a year against a weekly injection schedule.
• Cost per dose: injections start at $35. Pellet implantation starts at $350 for women and $550 for men, though each placement covers 4 to 6 months.
• Needle comfort: pellets involve one numbed in-office procedure a few times a year. Injections mean a regular needle, self-administered or in clinic.
• Minor procedure: only pellets involve a small incision and site care.

In practice, many patients begin with injections while their dose is being established, then switch to pellets once the right level is known and convenience becomes the priority. Your nurse practitioner will make a recommendation based on your labs, and you can change routes later. Both are available at all four of our Chicagoland clinics.

This page covers one track. For how hormone therapy works in general, the two programs side by side, delivery options and the full pricing structure, see hormone replacement therapy.