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Saliva Testing for Hormone Levels
An at-home saliva hormone test helps you understand more about your hormones. It can tell if you have hormonal balance. But are they more effective than a blood test?
Before using a test kit, it’s important to understand how these tests work.
Saliva tests are a non-invasive and stress-free way to test hormones. All you need to do is spit into a tube and send saliva samples to the testing company.
These tests are easy to use and affordable. When your test results are ready, you can access them from the privacy and convenience of your own home.
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Saliva vs. Blood Testing for Hormones
Aside from saliva tests, some companies offer at-home blood hormone tests.
At-home blood testing is a convenient way to get tested for hormone levels. But it is invasive compared to saliva collection.
Most of these tests involve the finger-prick method, where you prick your finger and fill a tube with the required amount of blood.
What A Hormone Test Says About Your Health
Hormones are chemical substances produced and excreted by the body’s endocrine system. They travel through the bloodstream and help regulate various organs and body functions.
A hormone test can check for hormonal imbalances. Meaning it can determine whether you have too much or too little of certain hormones.
Hormonal imbalance suggests the presence of an underlying health problem.
However, it can also be caused by aging, stress, and an unhealthy lifestyle — such as poor diet and lack of sleep.
Depending on the type of test, hormones can reveal your health. There are three types of hormone testing:
Sex Hormone Test
Sex hormones play an essential role in sexual development and health. But they can also affect hair growth, cholesterol levels, and body fat distribution.
Your sex hormones fluctuate throughout your life. You can have different results in subsequent tests even if you've taken a hormone test before.
However, it’s important to know what causes these fluctuations. The most common reasons are:
- Puberty and aging
- Menstrual cycle
- Menopause
Stress, illness, and certain medications can also have a negative impact on your sex hormones and cause imbalances.
1. LetsGetChecked — Our Favorite Female Hormone Test
The test provides a comprehensive picture of a woman's hormonal levels. It is used to assess female fertility and sexual health.
Among the female hormones commonly tested are:
- Estrogen
- Estradiol (a type of estrogen)
- Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH)
- Luteinizing hormone (LH)
- Progesterone
- Prolactin
Your FSH, LH, and estradiol levels let doctors know about your ovulation and menstrual cycle.
Progesterone prepares your uterus for pregnancy. Estrogen helps sustain it. In adolescents, these two hormones are essential to puberty.
Some specialized tests also check for ovarian reserve and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).
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2. LetsGetChecked — Our Favorite Male Hormone Test
The test offers information on a man's hormones. Unlike female hormones, male hormones not only affect a person's sexual health.
They can also impact your energy, weight, exercise, and muscle growth.
For instance, low testosterone levels are associated with impotence and low sperm count — as well as depression and irritability.
Most male hormone tests only measure your testosterone. Unfortunately, they do not give a complete picture of your hormonal health:
Look for advanced hormone tests that check for:
- Free androgen index (FAI)
- Sex-hormone binding globulin (SHBG)
- Prolactin
- Estradiol
Elevated prolactin and estradiol levels may cause impotence, decreased libido, little to no sperm count, and infertility. Men with too much prolactin may develop galactorrhea or an abnormal milky discharge from the nipples.
Androgen affects hair growth, sex drive, erectile function, and energy levels. Meanwhile, SHBG indicates the amount of free testosterone in your blood.
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Thyroid Hormone Test
The thyroid gland plays a vital role inmetabolismand thegrowth and developmentof the body.
It produces thyroid hormones which are responsible for your weight, body temperature, energy levels, and the growth of your hair, nail, and skin cells.
A thyroid hormone test checks for:
- Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH)
- Thyroxine hormone (T4)
- Triiodothyronine hormone (T3)
If you have hypothyroidism, it means you don't produce enough thyroid hormones. This can lead to weight gain, fatigue, hair loss, dry or rough skin, slow heartbeat, and low tolerance to cold.
The condition has also been linked to poor memory, depression, decreased libido, and irregular menstruation.
LetsGetChecked — Our Favorite Thyroid Hormone Test
If you have hyperthyroidism, you have too much thyroid hormones. This causes weight loss, difficulty sleeping, excessive sweating, fast heart rate, hand tremors, and increased bowel movements.
Other symptoms include anxiety, low sex drive, irregular periods, and enlargement of the thyroid gland (known as goiter).
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Stress Hormone Test (Cortisol)
Stress is linked to six of the leading causes of death among Americans.1 A stress hormone test can assess your stress levels. It can also help you determine your ability to cope with stress.
Most of these tests measure cortisol, the primary stress hormone. When you are stressed, your body produces more cortisol than usual.
Cortisol enhances your most important body functions to help you survive stressful situations. These include mood, energy levels, immunity, digestion, and tissue repair.
LetsGetChecked — Our Favorite Cortisol Test
Chronic stress can expose your body to elevated cortisol levels for too long. In turn, this can negatively affect your health and lead to:
- Irritability and mood swings
- Anxiety and depression
- Digestive problems
- Headaches and muscle cramps
- Sleep problems and low energy
- Poor memory and difficulty concentrating
- Weight and appetite changes
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Saliva Hormone Testing
A saliva test measures the amount of "free" hormones in your body.
Free hormones are not attached to a carrier protein. Your body can readily use them, producing instant effects on organs.
A saliva hormone test can accurately measure your:2
- Cortisol hormone
- Major estrogens — estriol, estradiol, and estrone
- Androgens — testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA-S)
- Other sex hormones — progesterone
Blood Hormone Testing
A blood test measures the "bound" hormones circulating in your bloodstream.
Bound hormones are attached to a carrier protein. When your body uses free hormones, these bound hormones replace them. This helps ensure that you have a constant supply of hormones.
Since most hormones are bound to protein, a blood test can check for a wider range of hormones. These include:
- Estrogen and estradiol
- Androgens — testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA-S)
- Sex hormones — prolactin and progesterone
- Gonadotropic hormones — FH and LH
- Thyroid hormones — TSH, T3, and T4
- Sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG)
- Insulin (e.g., diabetes test)
- Prostate-specific antigen (PSA)
Which Is Better: Saliva or Blood Hormone Test?
Most healthcare professionals rely on blood testing. Despite being invasive, it is the most versatile way to check different types of hormones.
With companies such as LetsGetChecked offering at-home blood tests for hormones, you can order tests online and have them delivered to your home.
Saliva testing is a non-invasive and relatively new alternative to blood tests. Studies show they can accurately measure a select number of hormones.
Its only drawback is its limited applications. After all, a salivary hormone test cannot check for as many hormones as a blood test.
Choosing the Best Type of Hormone Test
At-home blood hormone testing is the best option if you want to check for:
- Sexual dysfunction
- Thyroid problems
- Ovarian reserve
- Chronic stress.
It's also a great way to test for various diseases — including diabetes, prostate cancer, and PCOS.
You can use it to monitor hormone levels and test your fertility, especially when taking pills or injectable hormone replacement therapy (HRT).
Saliva testing works can help you monitor hormone levels while takingtopical hormone therapy. Examples include HRT gels and creams.
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What to Do With Your Hormone Test Results
As soon as your test results are ready, you can review them from the comfort of your home. We recommend discussing your results with a doctor. They can help you determine how to proceed.
A health professional may request additional tests to diagnose your condition. They might also suggest lifestyle changes and have you undergo treatment.
Hormone imbalance can be a sign of a serious medical condition. Hormone testing gives you the information you need to understand your hormones.
Get an at-home hormone test if:
- You don't feel your best
- You have concerns about thyroid function
- You feel foggy, weak, or tired
- You believe you might have a serious health problem
- You want to get pregnant
- You have problems with sexual function
FAQs
Why do you need to test your saliva for hormones? ›
Saliva contains unbound, bioavailable hormones. Therefore, salivary concentrations better represent circulating levels of free hormones, 1 which are likely to affect the body and be responsible for symptoms related to excessive or deficient hormone levels.
What are the benefits of saliva testing? ›The benefit of saliva testing lies in the ease of collection. It is quick, painless and able to be self-collected by the person, which means samples can be easily collected on a daily basis.
When should saliva hormone be tested? ›► Collect any day of the month. ► If testing Estradiol (E2), Progesterone (Pg) or Testosterone (T): Regular Cycles: Collect on day 19, 20 or 21 of the menstrual cycle. (Day 1 = first day of your period.)
Does saliva testing hormones work? ›The fact is, today's saliva tests are highly accurate—and highly sensitive. That's why saliva diagnostics may be the best option for measuring bioavailable hormones.
What can a hormone test detect? ›Blood or urine tests can determine the levels of various hormones in the body. This includes reproductive hormones, thyroid hormones, adrenal hormones, pituitary hormones, and many others.
What does your hormonal test result tell you? ›A hormone test will look for which particular hormones are out of balance. Depending on the affected hormone(s), symptoms can include memory problems, sudden weight gain, as well as: Anxiety, depression and/or mood swings. Decline in sex drive.