In basic terms, transparent testosterone patches are stuck onto the skin and release the male hormone testosterone into the system. The idea is to try and help women regain their love lives through an effect on their sex drive theoretically as potent as Viagra is for men. The patches have been available for men for a while, but the patches hadn’t been available for women-only until a while ago, and was welcomed by menopause specialists in particular, who could prescribe a course of treatment which was less dangerous than others. It is also convenient as women can take it on and off and stop and start treatment whenever they want to.
Before the patch, women were asked to use an implant that released testosterone. This required expensive surgery and also may not suit all women as it gives a continuous supply for six months rather than being stopped and started when convenient.
However, that doesn’t mean that you can just stick the patch on your arm and “off you go” as it were. Doctors have warned that testosterone patches take time to have an effect and cannot be worn “just for the weekend”.
The testing that was done of these testosterone patches was on almost 80 women aged 30 to 60 who had all had a hysterectomy. Over a six month period, some of the women wore low dose hormone patches and others wore what is known in the scientific world as a “placebo” which is an inactive patch. None of the women knew whether their patch was active or not, which is the main point. The women who received the active patch with the hormone being delivered reported a quote significant increase in their sex drive and also reported that their arousal and sexual satisfaction was doubled.
But it’s not only that – all over the world women who have used hormone patches found that they had improved feelings of wellbeing matching their rise in blood testosterone levels.
When the scientists announced the results of their research, they emphasized the warning that the patches must be used according to instructions which state that they must be used for a considerable length of time before you can really feel the benefits. This allows the hormone to get into the bloodstream and then be absorbed into the body and start affecting the health and wellbeing and sexual function of the recipient.
It should be emphasized also that testosterone patches are a relatively new way of administering testosterone, which means that whilst these studies have been proven to work in the short term, any problems that they might cause in the long-term have not yet been ascertained.