Men Seek Unnecessary Testosterone Treatments Due to Social Media Misinformation

Social media misinformation is driving men to NHS clinics in search of testosterone they don’t need, putting additional strain on already overextended waiting lists, according to medical professionals across the UK.

Testosterone therapy is a prescription-only treatment officially recommended under national guidelines exclusively for men with a clinically proven deficiency, which must be confirmed through symptoms assessment and multiple blood tests. However, a surge of viral content on platforms like TikTok and Instagram has begun reframing the hormone as a lifestyle supplement rather than a medical treatment.

These posts market blood tests as an entry point to accessing testosterone, promoting the hormone as a solution for common issues such as fatigue, concentration problems, and reduced libido—symptoms that can have numerous causes unrelated to hormone levels.

The online demand has created real-world consequences in medical facilities nationwide. Professor Channa Jayasena of Imperial College London, who chairs the Society for Endocrinology Andrology Network, reports that hospital specialists are encountering growing numbers of men who have undergone private blood tests—often promoted through social media—and have been incorrectly told they require testosterone treatment.

“At the national meeting, we asked 300 endocrinologists across the UK; everyone is seeing patients from these clinics every week,” Jayasena explained. “They are filling our clinics. We used to see people with adrenal problems and diabetes, and it’s really affecting NHS care. We are all asking how to deal with this.”

While advertising prescription medications directly to consumers is illegal in the UK, an investigation found numerous TikTok influencers collaborating with private medical clinics to promote blood tests—which are legal to advertise—as a pathway to testosterone therapy. These influencers, some with thousands of followers, receive payment or incentives from private clinics to share discount codes and giveaways, encouraging men to check their testosterone levels and potentially seek treatment.

In one example, a content creator performs bicep curls while telling viewers to “Get your testosterone tested” and offering a £20 discount. Another video promotes a free blood test giveaway, claiming it will help men “take control” of their performance. These posts have been flagged to the Advertising Standards Authority for potential regulatory breaches related to prescription drug promotion.

The financial incentives are significant. Private clinics typically charge between £1,800 and £2,200 for the first year of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT), with packages including medication, monitoring, and consultations. What was once a specialized medical treatment for a small subset of men with diagnosed hormone deficiencies has increasingly been rebranded as a “performance optimization” tool.

Medical professionals warn that taking testosterone unnecessarily carries serious health risks. The hormone can suppress the body’s natural production, cause infertility, and increase the risk of blood clots, heart problems, and mood disorders. Additionally, private clinics sometimes prescribe additional medications to counteract testosterone’s suppressive effects on natural hormone production—an approach similar to that used by anabolic steroid users.

“The most worrying thing is these clinics are starting testosterone for men with normal testosterone levels,” Jayasena noted. “There is no evidence that testosterone levels greater than 12 nmol/L are beneficial, and I have heard of clinics starting men below 18, which includes much of the population.”

The problem has become so widespread that it was a central topic at a national teaching course for next-generation endocrinology consultants. Medical professionals expressed significant concerns about reproductive health and the increasing pressure on men to artificially boost their testosterone levels.

This trend reflects a broader pattern in men’s health marketing, where normal experiences like fatigue, motivation issues, or natural aging are reframed as symptoms of “low T,” driving more men to seek tests and treatments despite not meeting the medical criteria established in clinical guidelines.