Discover Why Medichecks UK Are The Best Lab To Order Low Testosterone Tests From In The UK
If you suspect that you may be suffering from low testosterone, getting a blood test for confirmation is the sensible next action for you to take. Now potentially you may be able to get that done through the NHS but if we’re honest, getting approval for testosterone tests through the NHS is not only challenging, it takes a long amount of time as well!
So in most cases, that only leaves you the option of private labs & in my experience, the best option by quite a stretch is Medichecks UK they offer a wide range of low testosterone tests & offer blood panels which includes testosterone levels & other important & related bio markers, which you will need to consider in terms of testosterone levels & what you will need to keep track of if you decide to go down the TRT route.
The low testosterone tests that Medichecks UK offer, include home testosterone tests (finger prick) venous blood tests done in the lab, which look purely at testosterone & then wider male health & TRT blood panels, which I referred to above, these are not only low testosterone tests, but also look at other important bio markers related to testosterone production, what can be impacted due to testosterone replacement therapy & wider male health.
What we will do, is look at who Medichecks UK are as a company, the main options that Medichecks UK offers for low testosterone tests & the service that Medichecks UK offers as a whole, so you know why I recommend them as being your best option.
Who Are Medichecks UK
Medichecks UK have the following mission “Our mission is to make state-of-the-art laboratory blood testing available to everyone. We’ve harnessed the expertise of the UK’s top pathology laboratories. With the latest consumer technology to make 21st Century blood testing a simple, easy-to-use process available for everybody.”
Medichecks UK have created & offer over 900 different laboratory tests fr biomarkers & conditions, available for their customers order. As part of your order, you are provided with your own client area, where you have visual & easy to digest display of your tests results, on top of this you also get added comments from their qualified doctors.
Medichecks UK have been selling blood tests over 15 years now & sell thousands of tests every year. With low testosterone tests being some of the most popular. You are 100% in safe hands with Medichecks UK, they have been doing this for years & have an excellent customer satisfaction rating from independent sites like Feefo.
Check Out The Medichecks Site Here!
The Medichecks UK Service/ How It Works
Medichecks UK offer tests that you can do at home & tests that you can get carried out in a lab, known as a phlebotomy test. We will take a look at how it works with the finger prick/ home testing kits first.
Home Testing Kit
So when you order your kit, it will be delivered to your home with a prepaid first class envelope. This is so you can post your sample to the laboratory.
Included in your testing kit is everything that you need to collect your sample & you are provided with very easy to follow instructions on how to collect your samples and how long after collecting you need to post it back (I’d suggest you send back immediately).
Once your sample has been sent back & analyzed by the Medichecks UK lab, your results will be available on your secure personal dashboard, which you can access at mymedichecks.com again, at a glance you can see whether your results are within the normal range or not & the Medichecks UK doctors will provide notes/ comments on any abnormal results, along with advice on what your next course of action needs to be. As you would expect, all of your results are fully confidential.
Phlebotomy Tests
Phlebotomy tests are more expensive, but I would definitely recommend them over the finger prick tests. The results are far, far more accurate & reliable. For the best part the service is the same, you set up your account, & have you access at mymedichecks.com where you can see your results clearly displayed with any doctors notes etc. & again everything is completely confidential.
The main difference is as supposed to a finger prick kit being sent to you, you are sent a phlebotomy kit. You can choose to take your own sample (or you could have someone you know take it for you). If you aren’t a medical professional or don’t know any, you then have the options of getting your blood draw done at a local clinic or they can arrange for a nurse to come to your home & them do it for you.
In most cases I suggest people go down the clinic route. Medichecks UK have hundreds of partner clinics that you can pick from across the UK. You should have no issues locating one that is close to you & I’m yet to have a client who has struggled to find a clinic.
After you have had your sample taken at the clinic or by the nurse it will be sent off to Medichecks UK for them to assess in their lab, the same if you arrange for your own sample to be taken, you then post back to Medichecks & they will analyze results & make it available for you on your private portal.
The Wider Service
Medichecks are very in depth & like to make sure that you are comfortable using their system, are able to login to your account & actually access your details before you purchase your test, so I would recommend you go through that process first, just to acclimatize yourself to the system.
You receive your testing kit, very swiftly & usually a couple of days after ordering maximum. You are able to inform Medichecks when you’ve sent your sample, so they know to expect it and can speed up the analysis and you receiving your results, if required.
Medichecks UK may also request info about your current health & family medical history, this helps them to interpret your results as accurately as possible. I just want to reiterate, that all results are totally confidential and you are able to print copies, should you need to take them to your own doctor or a specialist.
In terms of receiving results, most tests have a pretty quick turn around. With most testosterone tests you receive the results about two days after Medichecks receive them. Medichecks UK have thousands of happy customers, they also have an excellent Feefo rating of 4.75/5, so you know that they offer a very good service!
So now we are going to take a look at the different tests you can opt for that are or include low testosterone tests.
You Can Check Out All The Different Low Testosterone Tests Here
Testosterone Home Blood Test
This is the most basic low testosterone test that Medichecks UK offer. It’s a simple finger price test, that gives you results for your total testosterone levels.
Testosterone & Oestradiol Blood Test
This another finger test, it will provide an indication for your total testosterone levels & also your oestradiol/ estrogen levels. If you are wondering why estrogen levels are being looked at, your estrogen levels are very important, even as a man you are supposed to have some natural estrogen production, it’s when your estrogen levels are too high or too low that you have health issues.
Similar to the above low testosterone test, it’s a finger prick test, the only difference is that you get an indication of both your total testosterone & free testosterone levels.
You Can Check Out All The Different Low Testosterone Tests Here
Male Hormone Check Blood Test
This is a finger prick blood test, that will give you an indication of your total testosterone levels, free testosterone levels & a number of related bio markers, including the following:
- LH
- Oestradiol
- FSH
- Prolactin
I personally wouldn’t recommend the finger prick low testosterone tests as they aren’t the most accurate. If you are going to opt for one though, this would be the one that I would recommend as it is the most in depth & provides you with most relevant information.
I appreciate that you may not be familiar with not every biomarker listed above & why they are important in terms of testosterone production & wider male health. So at the bottom of this article, I have provided an overview of what the key different bio markers are & why they are important.
TRT Monitoring Blood Test
This is a phlebotomy/ blood draw testosterone test, it is more aimed at men who are considering TRT/ testosterone replacement therapy or already on testosterone replacement therapy. This is one of the tests that you will more than likely want to go to a clinic to get completed. You are provided with an accurate overview of your total testosterone levels, oestradiol and your testosterone levels.
TRT Monitoring with Free Testosterone Blood Test
Similar to the above test, with the addition of the overview of your total testosterone for a fuller picture of your testosterone health.
You Can Check Out All The Different Low Testosterone Tests Here
Testosterone and Cortisol Blood Test
This is another finger prick blood test, you are provided with an indication of your total testosterone levels & your testosterone to cortisol ratio.
TRT Check (Testosterone Replacement Therapy) Blood Test
This is less of a low testosterone test & is actually aimed at men who are already on TRT/ testosterone replacement therapy. It’s a test that requires phlebotomy, so again in most cases I would suggest a going to a clinic. You are provided with an overview of over 24 bio markers including:
- Total testosterone
- Free testosterone
- Oestradiol
- Prolactin
- SHBG
- Haematocrit
- Prostate health
TRT Check Plus (Testosterone Replacement Therapy) Blood Test
Similar to the above test but contains even more biomarkers, this is the most in depth low testosterone test that Medichecks UK offer. It tests up to 43 different biomarkers, this includes the major hormones that impact testosterone production & wider male health plus far more. This includes an overview of the following:
- LH
- FSH
- Total testosterone
- Free testosterone
- Oestradiol
- Prolactin
- SHBG
- Haematocrit
- Diabetes risk
- Muscle health
- Kidney health
- Prostate health
You Can Check Out All The Different Low Testosterone Tests Here
Biomarker Overviews
As I mentioned above, please find below some overviews of some of the other key bio markers included in the low testosterone tests, so you can understand why they are important in relation to your testosterone levels & wider health.
Free Testosterone Calculation
The majority of the testosterone circulating in your blood is bound to proteins, with the main one being SHBG. This tends to mean that only 2-3 % of testosterone is free and available for the body to use & that percentage can be even lower if you have particularly high SHBG.
This test uses an algorithm to workout the levels of free/ unbound testosterone in relation to your total testosterone & SHBG. As your free T is the testosterone that is usable, it’s pretty vital wider information as part of a low testosterone test.
SHBG
A mentioned above, testosterone & in fact most of the sex hormones found in your blood are bound to Sex Hormone Binding Globulin (SHBG), meaning they are unavailable to your cells to use.
Again as mentioned above, the more SHBG in your blood the less free testosterone that you have. So the level of SHBG in your blood gives important insight about your free testosterone levels & wider hormonal health.
LH/ Luteinising Hormone
Luteinising Hormone is produced by the pituitary gland, it plays a major role in male and female fertility. For men, it also stimulates the production of testosterone, if you have low LH, your body won’t have healthy natural testosterone production.
Oestradiol
Oestradiol is a female steroid hormone, it is produced in the ovaries of women and to a far lesser extent in the testes for men. Oestradiol is the most powerful form of estrogen & is vital for female health, it plays an important function in male health as well. While excessive oestradiol is problematic for men & something you don’t want, having too little oestradiol can be just as bad.
As testosterone can be converted to estrogen through a process called aromatization & excessive/ too little oestradiol/ estrogen can impact testosterone production & overall hormonal health. You ideally want to keep an eye on your oestradiol levels.
FSH/ Follicle Stimulating Hormone
Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) is produced in the pituitary gland. It is if most importance for women & helps regulate the production of eggs by the ovaries. It plays an important function for men as well, in terms of the production of sperm.
In terms of male health, it gives you a strong indication in regard to your fertility levels, this can also be impacted by wider hormone issues & if you go down the TRT route, so help to paint a picture of your overall hormonal health.
Prolactin
Prolactin is a hormone that is produced in the pituitary gland. It plays a key role in reproductive health. With the primary purpose being to stimulate milk production after childbirth for women, it does play a part in male health as well, with men producing far less.
For men excessive prolactin levels can lead to the development of man boobs & can even lead to a fluid type discharge from the nipple area, so again, is an important biomarker for your wider hormonal health.
You Can Check Out All The Different Low Testosterone Tests From Medichecks UK Here
Final Thoughts
Hopefully, you can see why Medichecks are an excellent choice for you to order your low testosterone tests from in the UK.
As a quick reminder:
- They have a massive range of tests
- You receive your tests quickly
- Range of options to get your sample collected
- You receive your results quickly
- Results are easy to interpret
- Doctors notes & recommendations to accompany your results
- All results are completely confidential
If you have any questions in regard to this article or Medichecks UK service, just drop me a comment below & I’ll get back to you. Please feel free to share the article with anyone else you think may find it useful as well.
Finally, you can also follow me on my social media, where I will make you aware of any special offers Medichecks UK are offering for their low testosterone tests.
