Educational information only. At Precursor, hormone testing is requested and reviewed by a clinician and considered alongside your history and other markers, not as a stand-alone diagnosis. Testing is performed in NATA-accredited laboratories to ISO 15189 standards.

What is total testosterone?

Total testosterone measures all the testosterone in your blood, both the portion bound to carrier proteins and the small amount that is free and active. Testosterone is a key sex hormone in all people, though present at much higher levels in men, and it influences muscle, bone, libido, mood and energy.

Why it matters

Total testosterone is the usual starting point when assessing hormonal health. Because so much of it is bound and inactive, it is often interpreted alongside SHBG and a calculated free testosterone to understand how much is actually available to your tissues.

What your results can mean

Lower than expected

A low testosterone can relate to age, metabolic health, sleep, medications or the testes or pituitary gland. Because levels vary through the day, it is usually confirmed on a morning sample and read in context.

Higher than expected

A higher testosterone is interpreted differently depending on your sex and situation, and is always read by a clinician alongside your other hormones.

Reference ranges in Australia

Total testosterone is reported in nanomoles per litre (nmol/L), and reference ranges differ substantially between men and women and by age. Because testosterone follows a daily rhythm, timing of the sample matters. Read your result against your own report and with a clinician.

Understanding your testosterone with Precursor

Testosterone is best understood alongside SHBG and your wider hormonal picture, and interpretation depends heavily on your individual context. At Precursor, hormone testing is requested and reviewed by a clinician, so your result is read in the context of your history and symptoms. If this is something you would like to understand, you can speak with Precursor's clinical team about whether testing is right for you.