Characteristics of pain in people experiencing pain after
commencing testosterone therapy
A total of 351 (72.2%) of the study sample experienced pelvic pain
after starting testosterone therapy. Of those 351 respondents, 316
(90%) reported pelvic pain ‘sometimes’ and 35 (10%) reported pelvic
pain ‘always or almost always’. Of the 20 respondents aged over 50 years
and presumed postmenopausal, 9 (45%) reported pelvic pain ‘sometimes’
and 2 (10%) reported pelvic pain ‘always or almost always’.
A majority (N=345, 98.3%) reported some form of pelvic pain prior to
starting testosterone therapy. This included 190 (65.5%) who ‘always or
almost always’ and 89 (30.7%) who ‘sometimes’ experienced pain around
menstruation, 48 (14.3%) who ‘always or almost always’ and 102 (30.5%)
who ‘sometimes’ experienced pain around ovulation, and 31 (9.3%) who
‘always or almost always’ and 140 (41.9%) who ‘sometimes’ experienced
pain between menstrual periods.
The most common description of pain was cramping (described by 72.6%),
followed by aching (58.1%), stabbing (39.9%) and sharp (33.9%). The
pain was most commonly located in the hypogastric region (described by
87.2% of respondents) (Figure 1). The median score for pain severity
after commencement of testosterone GAHT on a scale from 0 to 10 (most
severe pain) was 6.2 (4.0, 7.7). This was similar to the median score of
6.7 (5.5, 7.8) reported for pain severity around menstruation prior to
commencement of testosterone GAHT. Consistent with this, the median
score in response to the question “How does the pelvic pain you
experience using testosterone compare to the pelvic pain you experienced
prior to starting testosterone?” (0 = much less severe, 5 = about the
same to 10 = much more severe), was 4.3 (2.2, 6.8).