Book Appointment
Book Appointment
Personalized 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
Book Your Appointment
Understanding Pellet Therapy

A Long-Acting Hormone Delivery Option

Hormone pellets are placed beneath the skin during a minor office procedure and release medication gradually. Whether this option is appropriate depends on your symptoms, medical history, examination, laboratory 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, laboratory findings, health history, and alternatives 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 personalized aftercare instructions while the insertion site heals.

Plan for ordered blood tests about six weeks after insertion, unless your clinician advises otherwise. Follow-up reviews symptoms, hormone levels, and relevant safety tests. Reinsertion timing is individualized rather than automatic. Pellets require fewer dosing tasks, but injections or topical options offer more flexibility when treatment needs to be adjusted 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, estradiol may be considered for bothersome menopausal symptoms. Testosterone may be considered separately for selected patients with persistent, distressing low sexual desire after assessment. 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 typically 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. FDA-approved hormone formulations and alternatives to pellets should be reviewed. ACOG recommends testosterone preparations other than pellets because of safety concerns and difficulty removing them.

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

Pellet therapy is not appropriate for every patient. Potential benefits, risks, alternatives, product status, monitoring requirements, and the limited ability to adjust or remove a pellet after insertion should be reviewed before treatment.

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. Its “optimal,” “moderate,” and “low” labels should not be interpreted as treatment targets or a ranking 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

Pellet treatment is offered on a self-pay basis. Pricing differs for men and women because individualized treatment plans, dosing, and typical reinsertion intervals differ.

Men's Pellet Treatment

Testosterone Pellets for Men

$1,000 per treatment
Typically considered every 5–6 months
  • Self-pay service: pellet treatment is not billed to insurance
  • Laboratory testing: not included in the treatment price
  • Individualized timing: reinsertion follows clinical reassessment
Women's Pellet Treatment

Hormone Pellets for Women

$600 per treatment
Typically considered every 3–4 months
  • Self-pay service: pellet treatment is not billed to insurance
  • Laboratory testing: not included in the treatment price
  • Individualized timing: reinsertion follows clinical reassessment

Treatment intervals are estimates, not guarantees. Actual timing and dosing are determined individually from symptoms, examination, laboratory findings, clinical response, and provider recommendations. Pricing and availability are subject to confirmation before treatment.

What to Expect

From Evaluation to Follow-Up

Pellet therapy should be part of a broader care plan—not a one-time procedure. Care begins with evaluation and continues through recovery, reassessment, and laboratory monitoring.

Hormone pellet used for subcutaneous insertion
Step 01 · Evaluation

Determine Whether Pellet Therapy Fits Your Needs

  • Clinical review: symptoms, health history, medications, risk factors, and goals.
  • Appropriate testing: laboratory 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: pellets are generally inserted 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. Several tracks may be made through one small opening; the number varies.
  • Comfort: local anesthetic may be used; pressure, tenderness, bruising, or discomfort can occur.
  • Planning: medication instructions, including anticoagulants, must come from the prescribing clinician. Do not stop medication independently.
Medical illustration of a pellet insertion beneath the skin
Step 03 · Monitoring

Your Six-Week Laboratory Check

  • Blood testing: plan to complete the laboratory tests ordered by our team about six weeks after insertion, unless your clinician 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: timing varies and should be determined from clinical response—not 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 clinician. 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 clinician 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 laboratory 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 Alternatives

Pellets may reduce the need for frequent self-dosing, but they are not automatically safer, more natural, or more effective than other hormone formulations. Once inserted, the dose cannot be quickly adjusted in the same way as a topical, oral, or injectable medication.

Potential advantages

Long-acting delivery and less frequent administration may be convenient for appropriately selected patients.

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

Compounded medications are not FDA-approved as finished drug products and are not reviewed by the FDA in the same manner as approved medications.

Patient Education

Hormone Pellet Therapy Questions

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

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 individualized medical evaluation. Symptoms alone do not establish a diagnosis or determine whether pellets are appropriate.

Are hormone pellets FDA-approved?

Compounded hormone pellets are not FDA-approved as finished drug products. Patients should be counseled about product status, available FDA-approved formulations, potential benefits, risks, and reasonable alternatives.

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. No specific response or timeline can be guaranteed.

How often are pellets replaced?

Timing varies by medication, dose, symptoms, laboratory findings, metabolism, and clinical response. Reinsertion should follow reassessment rather than an automatic schedule.

Can the dose be changed after insertion?

Not easily. Unlike a cream, patch, oral medication, or injection schedule, pellet exposure cannot simply be stopped or quickly adjusted 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 clinician performing the procedure and the prescribing clinician should provide individualized 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 alternatives can I discuss?

Depending on your diagnosis and goals, alternatives 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. Body weight is influenced by nutrition, activity, sleep, medications, metabolic health, medical conditions, and many other factors.

Personalized Hormone Consultation

Is Pellet Therapy the Right Option for You?

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

Schedule a Consultation

Our Mission

Helping patients understand and optimize their health through personalized, evidence-based medicine focused on hormone health, longevity, and lasting well-being.

Instagram Facebook Tiktok Yelp Rss Linkedin

Sign-up For Our Newsletter to Get Exclusive Offers and cutting edge health insights!

Trusted and verified

Explore our professional credentials, supplement store, available financing, and website security verification.

Alpha Hormones Inc. BBB Business Review Order supplements through the Alpha Hormones Fullscript store Alpha Hormones LegitScript Certified CareCredit flexible financing options CompliAssure Secured website verification
© 2026 Alpha Hormones ® All Rights Reserved