Hormone Therapy
Hormone therapy is prescription medicine, not an aesthetic treatment.
Hormone therapy in Nanjing
Hormone therapy is prescription medicine, not an aesthetic treatment. At Luowei Medical Aesthetics Clinic it begins with a physician assessment and laboratory testing, and it continues only with scheduled monitoring. Nothing is prescribed on the strength of symptoms alone.
Two therapies are offered here, and they answer different clinical questions. Testosterone replacement therapy is considered for men with laboratory-confirmed hypogonadism. Bioidentical hormone therapy is considered for adults, most often women in perimenopause or menopause, whose assessment supports it.
Both are prescribed and managed by our physician, a licensed family physician. Many people who enquire are not candidates, and are told so.
Key points
- Category Prescription therapy — physician-assessed
- Offered here Testosterone replacement · bioidentical hormone therapy
- Required first History, examination and laboratory testing
- Ongoing Scheduled follow-up and repeat bloodwork
- Not offered Pellet implants · thyroid management · fertility treatment
“Bioidentical” is a description, not a safety rating
The word describes molecular structure — hormones identical to those the body produces. It says nothing about risk. Compounded preparations in particular are not reviewed by NMPA in the way commercially manufactured products are. Where a NMPA-registered product suits the plan, it is used in preference to a compounded one.
What separates them
They share a pathway — assess, test, decide, monitor — and very little else. The hormone, the population, the contraindications and the monitoring schedule are all different.
Testosterone replacement therapy
Considered for men whose symptoms and repeated morning laboratory testing are consistent with hypogonadism. Diagnosis rests on the bloodwork, not on a symptom questionnaire. Screening before prescribing includes prostate and haematological parameters, and those parameters are re-checked on a schedule for as long as therapy continues. Administration routes differ by plan and are decided at consultation.
Testosterone replacement therapy →
Bioidentical hormone therapy
Considered for adults with an assessment supporting hormone therapy — most commonly women in perimenopause or menopause. Both NMPA-registered products and compounded preparations exist; the difference between the two is explained before anything is chosen. Personal and family history, particularly of breast, endometrial, cardiovascular and thrombotic disease, is reviewed in detail because it changes what can be offered.
Bioidentical hormone therapy →
Why they are not interchangeable
People sometimes arrive asking for “hormone optimisation” as a single product. It is not one. The assessment for a 48-year-old woman with disrupted sleep and the assessment for a 38-year-old man with a confirmed low morning testosterone share a method and nothing else.
What is not offered at this clinic
Pellet implantation, thyroid disease management, fertility treatment, growth hormone and anabolic steroid prescribing are not provided here. If your assessment points that way, you are referred rather than treated.
Which one applies to you
| Your situation | Where the assessment starts |
|---|---|
| Man, symptoms suggesting low testosterone, no bloodwork yet | Consultation and baseline morning bloodwork before any discussion of therapy |
| Man, low testosterone already documented elsewhere | Consultation with your existing results; repeat testing is usually still required |
| Woman in perimenopause or menopause with disruptive symptoms | Consultation, history review and baseline testing for bioidentical hormone therapy |
| History of breast, endometrial or prostate cancer | Assessment still possible, but hormone therapy may be contraindicated; expect referral back to your specialist |
| Looking for performance enhancement or bodybuilding dosing | Not offered here, at any dose, under any protocol |
| Concern is skin, volume or laxity rather than systemic symptoms | Collagen stimulators, RF tightening or an aesthetic consultation — not hormone therapy |
Who is, and who is not, assessed further
Assessment may proceed
- Adults with persistent symptoms that have not been explained by another cause
- Men with repeated morning laboratory results consistent with hypogonadism
- Adults in perimenopause or menopause whose history does not carry a contraindication
- People willing to attend scheduled follow-up and repeat bloodwork
Assessment does not proceed to therapy
- Suspected or confirmed hormone-sensitive cancer, including prostate and breast
- Pregnancy, or planning pregnancy; breastfeeding
- Undiagnosed abnormal uterine bleeding
- Active or prior thrombotic events, unless cleared by the treating specialist
- Untreated significant cardiovascular, hepatic or renal disease
- Requests for supraphysiological or performance dosing
- Anyone unwilling to complete baseline testing
This list is a summary, not a screening tool. Whether it applies to you is decided in consultation.
Timelines and commitment
- First visit Consultation and requisition for baseline testing
- Results review Once laboratory results are available — typically within one to two weeks
- If therapy begins Early review and repeat bloodwork within the first months
- Ongoing Scheduled review; intervals set by therapy and by your results
- Duration Reassessed at each review; not an open-ended prescription
Hormone therapy is a continuing medical relationship. If you are looking for a single visit with a prescription at the end of it, this is not that.
When the answer is something else
A number of the concerns that bring people to a hormone consultation are better addressed elsewhere, and saying so is part of the assessment.
- Sleep, mood or fatigue with normal laboratory results— referral to your family physician for further work-up rather than empirical hormone prescribing.
- Skin thinning, laxity or volume loss— collagen stimulators or radiofrequency tightening address the tissue directly.
- Body composition— electromagnetic muscle stimulation and medical weight management are separate pathways with their own assessment.
- Thyroid, fertility or complex endocrine disease— referral to endocrinology or the appropriate specialist.
What determines cost
Cost depends on the therapy, the preparation prescribed, and the frequency of monitoring your plan requires. Laboratory testing and medication are billed separately from clinic fees, and a compounded preparation is priced differently from a NMPA-registered product.
Because the plan is not known until testing is complete, a figure quoted before assessment would be a guess. A written estimate is provided once the plan is set, before anything begins.
Standards applied to hormone therapy
Diagnosis before prescription
Laboratory confirmation precedes prescribing. A symptom score is not a diagnosis, and this clinic does not treat one as if it were.
Monitoring is part of the therapy
Repeat bloodwork and scheduled review are conditions of continuing, not optional extras. Therapy is not renewed without them.
Referral where referral is right
Thyroid disease, fertility, complex endocrine conditions and oncology history are referred. A clinic that treats everything that walks in is not being thorough.
Compounded preparations are explained, not marketed
Where a compounded preparation is used, the difference from a NMPA-registered product is set out before you consent, including what that review difference means.
Risks, contraindications and when to seek help
Hormone therapy carries real risk. Disclosing it in full is part of consent, and a clinic that lists only benefits should be treated with caution.
Risks discussed before consent
- Testosterone replacement— effects on red blood cell count, on fertility, on prostate parameters, and on cardiovascular risk factors. These are the reason for the screening and the repeat bloodwork.
- Bioidentical hormone therapy— effects on breast and endometrial tissue, and on cardiovascular and thrombotic risk. Risk varies with age, time since menopause, the hormones used and personal history.
- Both— injection-site or application-site reactions, and the possibility that therapy is stopped because monitoring shows it should be.
Absolute contraindications
- Known or suspected hormone-sensitive malignancy, including breast and prostate
- Pregnancy, planned pregnancy, or breastfeeding
- Undiagnosed abnormal uterine bleeding
- Active thrombotic or thromboembolic disease
- Severe untreated hepatic disease
Seek urgent medical attention
Call 911 or go to your nearest emergency department for chest pain, shortness of breath, one-sided weakness, difficulty speaking, sudden severe headache, or pain and swelling in one leg. Do not wait for a clinic appointment and do not email the clinic first. Report new or unusual symptoms — including mood change, unusual bleeding, or breast changes — to the clinic promptly, and to your family physician.
This page is general information about how hormone therapy is assessed at this clinic. It is not medical advice and it is not a substitute for consultation. Nothing here should be used to decide whether to start, change or stop a medication.
Where the medical claims on this page come from
Everything above about Hormone Therapy rests on published evidence rather than on our own word. The sources below are the ones behind those statements: peer-reviewed papers indexed in PubMed, and guidance written for patients by dermatology academies and national health services. Read them before you decide — and bring any of them to your consultation.
- Peer-reviewedCardiovascular safety of testosterone replacement therapy in men: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis
- Patient guidanceMenopause
What these references can and cannot tell you. They describe what is known about the treatment itself — how well it tends to work, how long results last, and what can go wrong. They are not an assessment of this clinic, and no published study can tell you whether it suits your skin type, anatomy, or medical history. That judgement comes from the physician who examines you in person, and it may well be “not this one”.