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Individualized Hormone Care

Hormone Pellet Therapy for Men and Women

Explore a long-acting hormone-delivery option with individualized evaluation, laboratory review, informed consent, and ongoing clinical monitoring.

  • Individualized evaluation
  • Laboratory-guided care
  • Ongoing monitoring
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Active man and woman relaxing outdoors at sunset
Understanding Pellet Therapy

A Long-Acting Hormone Delivery Option

A provider places hormone pellets beneath the skin during a minor office procedure. The pellets then release medication gradually. Whether this option is suitable depends on your symptoms, medical history, exam, lab findings, treatment goals, risk factors, and preferences.

Man learning about testosterone pellet therapy
Hormone Care for Men

Testosterone Pellet Therapy

For men with confirmed testosterone deficiency, pellets offer long-acting delivery without daily gel application or routine self-injections. They release testosterone gradually over several months, making them a convenient option for selected patients. Your provider reviews symptoms, lab findings, health history, and options before recommending treatment.

Men usually receive testosterone-only pellets. At our clinic, insertion commonly uses about three tracks beneath the skin through one small incision under local anesthetic. The dose, pellet count, and anatomy determine the technique. Follow your custom aftercare instructions while the insertion site heals.

Plan for ordered blood tests about six weeks after insertion, unless your provider advises otherwise. Follow-up reviews symptoms, hormone levels, and relevant safety tests. Your provider sets reinsertion timing based on your needs rather than an automatic schedule. Pellets require fewer dosing tasks, but injections or topical options offer more flexibility when your provider needs to adjust treatment quickly.

Discuss fertility and monitoring before treatment. Testosterone can suppress sperm production and raise hematocrit. Insertion risks include infection and pellet extrusion; the dose is difficult to adjust promptly once pellets are placed.
Woman learning about hormone pellet therapy
Hormone Care for Women

Menopause and Hormone Care

After menopause, your provider may consider estradiol for bothersome menopausal symptoms. After assessment, your provider may separately consider testosterone for selected patients with persistent, distressing low sexual desire. A combined plan is not necessary for every woman.

During perimenopause, selected patients may discuss testosterone without estradiol, but testosterone is not routine treatment for perimenopause or a substitute for estrogen when estrogen is indicated. Evidence is strongest for postmenopausal hypoactive sexual desire disorder. Women receiving pellets at our clinic usually need one insertion track; the exact technique depends on their treatment plan.

Women with a uterus who receive systemic estradiol generally also need a prescribed progestogen to protect the uterine lining. Review FDA-approved hormone formulations and options to pellets with your provider. ACOG recommends testosterone preparations other than pellets because of safety concerns and difficulty removing them.

Assessment may include symptoms, menstrual and reproductive history, breast and uterine history, cardiovascular and clotting risk, current medications, screening status, lab findings, and treatment preferences.

Pellet therapy is not suitable for every patient. Before treatment, review possible benefits, risks, options, product status, and monitoring with your provider. Also discuss how difficult it can be to adjust or remove pellets after insertion.

Understanding Hormone Delivery

A Closer Look at the Delivery Options

Use this illustration as a conversation starter when reviewing pellets, injections, patches, and other formulations with your provider.

The graphic does not include a time scale, doses, or supporting study data. Therefore, its “optimal,” “moderate,” and “low” labels are not treatment targets or rankings of effectiveness.

View full-size chart (opens a new tab) →
Illustrative hormone-level curves labeled pellet therapy, injections, patches, and oral or creams; not a measured clinical comparison.
Illustration only—not measured patient results, a guarantee of hormone levels, or evidence that one treatment is superior.
Transparent Self-Pay Pricing

Hormone Pellet Treatment Pricing

We offer pellet treatment on a self-pay basis. Pricing differs for men and women because custom treatment plans, dosing, and typical reinsertion intervals differ.

Men's Pellet Treatment

Testosterone Pellets for Men

$1,000 per treatment
Usually considered every 5–6 months
  • Self-pay service: we do not bill pellet treatment to insurance
  • Lab testing: not included in the treatment price
  • Custom timing: reinsertion follows clinical follow-up review
Women's Pellet Treatment

Hormone Pellets for Women

$600 per treatment
Usually considered every 3–4 months
  • Self-pay service: pellet treatment is not billed to insurance
  • Lab testing: not included in the treatment price
  • Custom timing: reinsertion follows clinical follow-up review

Treatment intervals are estimates, not guarantees. Your provider sets timing and dosing based on symptoms, exam, lab findings, and treatment response. Pricing and availability are subject to confirmation before treatment.

What to Expect

From Assessment to Follow-Up

Pellet therapy should be part of a broader care plan—not a one-time procedure. Care begins with assessment and continues through recovery, follow-up review, and lab monitoring.

Hormone pellet used for subcutaneous insertion
Step 01 · Assessment

Determine Whether Pellet Therapy Fits Your Needs

  • Clinical review: symptoms, health history, medications, risk factors, and goals.
  • Appropriate testing: lab and other screening based on the individual.
  • Shared decision-making: compare pellets with injections, patches, gels, oral, transdermal, or other options when applicable.
Clinician preparing a hormone pellet insertion
Step 02 · Procedure

A Minor In-Office Insertion

  • Placement: a provider generally inserts pellets beneath the skin through a small incision, commonly near the upper buttock or hip. A track is a channel beneath the skin, not a separate skin incision. The provider may create several tracks through one small opening; the number varies.
  • Comfort: your provider may use local anesthetic; pressure, tenderness, bruising, or discomfort can occur.
  • Planning: medication instructions, including anticoagulants, must come from the prescribing provider. Do not stop medication independently.
Medical illustration of a pellet insertion beneath the skin
Step 03 · Monitoring

Your Six-Week Lab Check

  • Blood testing: plan to complete the lab tests ordered by our team about six weeks after insertion, unless your provider directs a different schedule.
  • Review: discuss symptoms, side effects, hormone levels, and relevant safety tests, such as a blood count when prescribed. Contact the clinic sooner if problems develop.
  • Future dosing: your clinical response guides timing, rather than a guaranteed calendar schedule.
After Your Appointment

Post-Pellet Procedure Care

Protect the insertion site as it heals and follow the written instructions provided at your visit. Dressing, showering, and activity timelines depend on your procedure and closure method.

Illustration of bioidentical hormone pellet therapy

Protect the dressing

Keep the site clean and dry for the period specified by your provider. Leave closure strips and dressings in place as instructed; do not pick at the incision or apply unapproved creams.

Ease back into activity

Avoid strenuous exercise, heavy lifting, rubbing, or pressure on the insertion area until your provider clears you. Ask when it is safe to shower; avoid soaking, swimming, and hot tubs until the wound has healed and your team approves.

Watch the healing process

Mild tenderness or bruising can occur. Contact the clinic promptly for increasing pain, spreading redness, warmth, drainage, fever, persistent bleeding, an opening wound, or a pellet coming out. Do not try to push a pellet back in.

Complete blood testing at about six weeks

Use the lab order provided by your care team and schedule your results review. Report new symptoms sooner rather than waiting for this visit. Do not change hormone medications or arrange additional pellets without your prescriber.

Questions about your recovery?
Call or text 213-334-4111, or email our support team.

Call 213-334-4111 Text 213-334-4111 Support@AlphaHormones.com
Informed Decision-Making

Understand Benefits, Limits and Options

Pellets may reduce the need for frequent self-dosing, but they are not automatically safer, more natural, or more effective than other hormone formulations. After insertion, your provider cannot adjust the dose as quickly as with topical, oral, or injectable medication.

Potential advantages

Long-acting delivery and fewer dosing tasks may suit some patients after assessment.

Procedure-related risks

Possible risks include pain, bruising, bleeding, infection, scarring, poor wound healing, pellet extrusion, or the need for additional medical care.

Hormone-related risks

Risks and side effects depend on the hormone, dose, medical history, and individual response. Your provider should review these before prescribing.

Compounded-product status

The FDA has not approved compounded medications as finished drug products. It does not review them in the same way as approved medications.

Patient Education

Hormone Pellet Therapy Questions

Review common questions about candidacy, insertion, monitoring, safety, and treatment options.

What is hormone pellet therapy?

Hormone pellet therapy uses small implants placed beneath the skin to release medication gradually. Depending on the patient and prescribed therapy, pellets may contain testosterone or estradiol.

Who may be considered for pellet therapy?

Candidacy requires an custom medical assessment. Symptoms alone do not establish a diagnosis or determine whether pellets are suitable.

Are hormone pellets FDA-approved?

Compounded hormone pellets are not FDA-approved as finished drug products. Your provider should explain product status, available FDA-approved formulations, possible benefits, risks, and reasonable options.

Are bioidentical hormones automatically safer?

No. “Bioidentical” describes chemical structure; it does not establish that a product is safer or more effective. Risk depends on the hormone, formulation, route, dose, medical history, and monitoring.

How quickly will I notice a difference?

Response varies. Some patients notice changes sooner than others, while some may not receive the desired benefit. We cannot guarantee a specific response or timeline.

How often are pellets replaced?

Timing varies by medication, dose, symptoms, lab findings, metabolism, and clinical response. Reinsertion should follow follow-up review rather than an automatic schedule.

Can the dose be changed after insertion?

Not easily. Unlike a cream, patch, oral medication, or injection schedule, your provider cannot simply stop or quickly adjust pellet exposure after insertion. This is an important consideration before treatment.

What risks should I discuss with my provider?

Discuss procedure-related risks, hormone-related adverse effects, cardiovascular and clotting history, breast, uterine or prostate considerations, fertility goals, current medications, cancer history, sleep apnea, and other individual risk factors.

Should I stop blood thinners before insertion?

Never stop an anticoagulant, antiplatelet drug, or other prescribed medication on your own. The provider performing the procedure and the prescribing provider should provide custom instructions.

What should I expect after the procedure?

Temporary soreness, swelling, bruising, or activity restrictions may occur. Follow the provided wound-care instructions and contact the clinic for worsening pain, spreading redness, drainage, fever, bleeding, wound opening, or other concerning symptoms.

What options can I discuss?

Depending on your diagnosis and goals, options may include FDA-approved patches, gels, injections, oral or vaginal products, nonhormonal treatments, lifestyle measures, or monitoring without medication.

Does pellet therapy cause weight loss?

Pellet therapy is not a guaranteed weight-loss treatment. Nutrition, activity, sleep, medications, metabolic health, medical conditions, and many other factors affect body weight.

Custom Hormone Visit

Is Pellet Therapy the Right Option for You?

Meet with an Alpha Hormones® medical provider to review your symptoms, medical history, lab findings, treatment preferences, potential risks, and available options.

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