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).