You’re doing all the right things to stay healthy. Eating a balanced diet? Check. Getting at least seven hours of sleep every night? Most nights, sure, with the occasional exception. Exercising with weight-resistance and cardio at least three days a week? Yep, even check out these guns! You may even have a V8 every now and then.
How often are you getting your blood checked? This is more than just a lipid panel to make sure your cholesterol is looking good. Your blood has vital information on how your testosterone levels are impacting your everyday life. Blood testing is by far the most accurate way to gauge your total testosterone and its effect on your body. Urine and saliva tests for testosterone are much quicker and significantly less expensive, but they’re not nearly as accurate as blood testing. (Source)
Types of blood tests for testosterone
There are two standard blood tests used in determining your testosterone production and retention levels: LC/MS and ECLIA.
LC/MS
LC/MS, or liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry as it’s often called, is the Cadillac of blood testing for testosterone. The CDC qualifies LC/MS testing as the most accurate method for determining your total testosterone level. (Quest Diagnostics) LC/MS is highly sensitive, which makes it effective for testing patients with very low testosterone levels.
ECLIA
The ECLIA method is the more standard blood test often used by clinics to determine your total testosterone levels. ECLIA (Electrochemiluminescent Immunoassay) is fast and much more affordable that LC/MS, but it also tends to register higher than the more dependable LC/MS method.
If you’re needing blood work to find out whether your testosterone is low, Mantality is here to help you. Our team created a FREE eBook available here for instant download to help you learn more about our various testosterone treatment methods. This is a great conversation starter for you and your doctor or one of our board-certified staff physicians. Download your FREE eBook right now and schedule your next appointment at Mantality.