Testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) is used to treat testosterone deficiency, which affects around 10% of men worldwide and as many as 40% of men over the age of 45. TRT can improve the quality of life for men with low testosterone. It’s also used as a form of cross-sex hormone therapy for trans men.
Testosterone undecanoate (TU) and testosterone enanthate (TE) are two common forms of testosterone used for TRT and cross-sex hormone therapy. Testosterone enanthate is an injectable ester that’s shorter-acting than testosterone undecanoate, which comes in both oral and longer-acting injectable forms. There are many similarities and differences between testosterone undecanoate vs enanthate.
This article will compare and contrast TU and TE in terms of:
- how well they work
- safety
- how they’re taken
- who they’re most appropriate for
The goal is to provide doctors with the information they need to decide which form of testosterone is best for their patients.