So I happen to have hypermobility thatโs slowly fucking up just about every joint in my body. At one point the pain was so bad it significantly contributed to my getting fired from multiple jobs.
I saw a reference on the internet to even low doses of testosterone helping with joint stability- and therefor preventing or slowing joint damage. I brought it up to my doctor tentatively, wondering if it was anything more than gossip. She agreed readily that this was well known and there were studies to back it up.
I asked her WHY, in the years sheโd been treating me, she NEVER brought this up. She confided that there were Side Effects. I listed the effects Iโd seen on my friends whoโd been on testosterone for years, and she nodded along. I waited for her to add something more dangerous that might apply to me.
She really believed it was such a sure thing that I would rather have chronic pain and potentially reduced mobility than having a lower voice and some extra hair.
As it happens Iโm agender and donโt give a shit. But even if I wasnโt- I was loosing jobs and in daily pain!!!!
Binary gender expectations, lack of respect for bodily autonomy and misogyny can fuck you up in ways you didnโt even realize were possible.
Almost exactly 1 year in on low dose testosterone gel and not only do I have GLORIOUS muscles. Seriously my arms are fantastic. But my pain hasnโt been lower in probably 15 years and Iโve stopped worrying about mobility loss. Every part of my health is improved.
There is no good medical reason that this had to wait for years to happen, except that our society is real fucked up about bodily autonomy, gender, and health.