Does Testosterone Make You Horny?

Testosterone plays a starring role in your sex life—it drives everything from sparking desire to supporting performance. So, if your sex drive has tanked, it could be a sign your testosterone levels have taken a nosedive (1). But is the inverse also true? Can testosterone make you hornier? 

The answer is yes—but only if the root cause of your lagging libido is low testosterone. 

TRT can improve libido in men with clinically low testosterone levels, says board-certified urologist Jamin Brahmbhatt, M.D.

“But it’s not a solution for libido issues caused by other factors like mental health, stress, relationship quality, and overall physical health.”

About the Experts:

Justin Houman, M.D., a board-certified managing partner at Tower Urology, and an assistant professor of urology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Amy Pearlman, M.D., is a board-certified urologist at Prime Institute, who specializes in men’s hormone and sexual health. 

Jamin Brahmbhatt, M.D., F.A.C.S., is a board-certified urologist and Assistant Professor of Urology at UCF College of Medicine. 

How Testosterone Affects Libido

Testosterone primarily acts in the brain, where it stimulates sexual thoughts, libido, and arousal. 

“It also can influence dopamine levels within your brain,” says Houman, referring to the “feel-good” neurotransmitter that makes pleasurable activities—like sex—something you want to repeat. 

Specifically, dopamine is the body’s reward and motivation chemical. When something is pleasurable (like sex), the hit of dopamine that’s released makes us want to do it more. Dopamine is produced in the hypothalamus—which is heavily involved in regulating sexual behavior—dopamine plays a key role in energy, sexual arousal, and desire, Brahmbhatt says (2, 3).

When testosterone levels fall, dopamine activity can also plummet. The result? Symptoms like low energy, irritability, and—you guessed it—sluggish libido (4). 

However, not all experts agree on the extent of testosterone’s impact on libido. Amy Pearlman, M.D., a board-certified urologist at Prime Institute, points to an older study on the link between men’s health and aging (5). Although libido and testosterone levels were significantly associated, the study showed only a slight difference in testosterone levels between men with low libido and those without. 

In a 2024 study in the journal Proceedings of Royal Society B, researchers tracked daily testosterone levels and sexual desire in 41 men over a month and found no significant day-to-day link between the two. However, testosterone levels did appear to influence courtship behavior, especially in single men interacting with potential romantic partners (6).

How do you know if your lagging libido is a result of low testosterone? There’s no one-size-fits-all definition of a “normal” sex drive, but changes to what’s normal or baseline for you warrant a trip to the doctor to check your testosterone level, Houman says. Low testosterone isn’t always the cause of low sex drive, he says, but it’s “definitely more likely” that men with flagging libidos have low testosterone.

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Does Testosterone Make You Horny?

Testosterone and horniness are undeniably connected. Having a normal testosterone level for your age can keep your sex drive humming. If your levels are too low, raising them can light up your libido. But libido is influenced by more than testosterone. 

For starters, your overall health matters. Chronic conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, or cardiovascular disease can dampen libido. Stress, anxiety, and depression can also take a toll. Performance anxiety can tamp down libido, too, if sexual issues, like erectile dysfunction, are in play (7, 8).

Some medications, including some antidepressants and blood pressure drugs, can slow down sex drive, as can stress, not getting enough sleep, and other lifestyle factors (9, 10, 11).

Still,  testosterone starts the sexual “cascade,” which begins in the brain and ends (hopefully) with post-orgasm bliss: .

Sexual desire in the brain

Sex is a mental act before it’s a physical one. Here’s how it works: the hypothalamus contains receptors that respond to testosterone. When that hormone binds to these receptors, it ignites the production of dopamine, which triggers your desire to have sex (12).

“Testosterone hitting the hypothalamus and areas around the hypothalamus trigger sexual thoughts,” Houman says. “Sexual thoughts trigger arousal.”

Genital sensations

Testosterone enhances sensations in your genitals, primarily by increasing blood flow to the penis, Houman explains.

Erectile function

“The blood vessels that dilate for erectile function are more receptive to dilation when you have higher testosterone levels,” Houman says. “Therefore, you get stronger erections.”

Confidence builder

Here’s where the mind comes back into play: sexual performance and confidence often go hand in hand. Influenced by testosterone the hypothalamus communicates with other brain regions that process emotion and impulse control. The messaging network transforms those signals into sexual thoughts and arousal, and ultimately performance (12).

But if you experience erectile dysfunction despite normal testosterone levels because of stress or medications, it “can lead to a lack of confidence and desire,” Houman says.

Sexual impulse

A 2022 study in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology found that a single dose of testosterone increased sexual impulsivity in young heterosexual men with normal baseline levels. Participants were asked to choose between seeing a sexually explicit image immediately for a short time or waiting to view it for longer. Those given testosterone were more likely to opt for the immediate reward. (13)

But sexual impulsivity is not something Houman sees among his patients. “I don’t think I even have a single story of a patient who, when we boost their testosterone levels, they’ve engaged in sexual impulsivity that has been negative or over the top,” he says.

What he has encountered is a sexual mismatch in libido between partners. Long-standing sexual patterns can shift when a man starts TRT, leaving some couples unsure how to navigate a reawakened libido. 

Pearlman has seen this in her patients, too. “I’ve actually had some patients who want to start TRT for other reasons, including increasing lean muscle mass, but are concerned it may raise their libido too much,” Pearlman says. “These patients usually have partners who are less interested in engaging in frequent sex.”

Still, she adds, most men aren’t unhappy with their enhanced sex drive. “While TRT can significantly increase libido, my patients rarely see it as a problem,” Pearlman explains. If it does become an issue, she adjusts the dosage to manage

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Testosterone Boosters and Sex Drive

Pharmacy shelves are filled with supplements that claim to supercharge men’s sex lives and give them powerful erections. These products—typically a mix of herbs, vitamins, and minerals—are marketed to help increase testosterone levels naturally. The catch? Many of the ingredients have yet to be studied for libido in humans. It’s hard to say if you’ll achieve the same sex life as the lucky lab rats (14). 

At best, over-the-counter testosterone boosters might give you a little more oomph. But if you have low testosterone, they’re unlikely to change your libido long-term. You’ll have better results with hormone treatment monitored by your doctor. 

There are ways to increase testosterone without the aid of a pill or powder, by optimizing what Houman calls the “four pillars of healthy testosterone”: sleep, movement, stress reduction, and diet. 

• Get enough sleep: Aim for at least seven hours per night.
• Exercise regularly: Incorporate three days of heavy lifting and two days of cardio each week.
• Manage stress: Minimize it wherever possible.
• Eat a balanced diet: Focus on complex carbs, lean proteins, and healthy fats.

TRT and Sex Drive

In 2018 study published in the journal Current Opinion Urology shows that in men with low sex drive, libido tends to climb during the first three months of treatment. However, once those levels have normalized, additional increases in testosterone may not further increase sex drive (15). 

Even so, many men say TRT has boosted their libido.

“Before I started treatment, my sex drive was noticeably lacking which was extremely frustrating,” says Dave, a Hone community member. “After I started TRT, my sex drive was restored to what it was when I was significantly younger.”

Greg, a Hone ambassador, also says his libido ramped up on TRT: “Now, everything seems way more ‘normal.’”

But, if your testosterone levels are already in a healthy range, and your libido is already robust, taking testosterone won’t likely rev up your sex drive any further (15).