Injectable HGH vs. HGH Pills

With the recent surge in the popularity of human growth hormone (HGH) owing to its anti-aging and health promoting properties, more and more people are wondering about the differences between injectable HGH and HGH pills. While both of these are effective forms of growth hormone, there are vast differences between the two.

How Do HGH Pills Work?

HGH pills are most often a formulation of low-dose growth hormones. These supplements can be HGH alone, but more often they're combined with HGH releasers in a formulation that works in conjunction with HGH to stimulate the body's own production of growth hormone.

In addition to HGH pills, HGH supplements also come in the form of oral sprays. Both of these types of HGH supplements work by providing a low dose of HGH to help the body gradually build up to optimum growth hormone levels to slow, and in some cases reverse, the signs of aging. Depending on the particular formulation of HGH pills and other synergistic ingredients, most people notice improvements in health and wellbeing within two to three weeks of starting supplementation.

How Does Injectable HGH Work?

HGH injections are entirely different from oral supplements. Injectable HGH is a high dose formulation of bio-identical growth hormone that is only available by prescription. When it was first formulated, injectable HGH was derived from growth hormone extracted from human subjects. Injectable HGH is now created in a laboratory, and is no longer extracted or cultured from living tissues.

Injectable HGH works more quickly than HGH pills to increase HGH levels. In cases of clinical deficiency, or the need to treat a specific medical condition, HGH injections are often prescribed by doctors. However, HGH injections carry relatively greater risks than HGH pills.

Injectable HGH can sometimes shut down the body's natural production of growth hormone. The body may interpret higher levels of circulating hormone to indicate that it should halt its own production. While some reduction of the body's natural production is expected with HGH injections, if the body does not decrease its own production of the hormone at all, HGH injections could result in abnormally high levels of growth hormone in the bloodstream. Medical supervision is essential in order to balance HGH levels while minimizing the risks of side effects.

Some side effects of abnormally high growth hormone levels resulting from HGH injections include joint and bone abnormalities like arthritis and carpal tunnel syndrome, as well as edema, cardiovascular abnormalities, and liver damage.

Benefits and Drawbacks of HGH Pills and Injectable HGH

If you measure effectiveness in terms of how quickly HGH levels are increased, injections are more effective. However, this could backfire as there have been some reports of the body completely shutting down its own HGH production. Apart from the risk of side effects, one other important drawback of HGH injections are their high cost. Self administered injections can range from the thousands to the tens of thousands per year, not including monitoring from a skilled health professional. The need for medical monitoring and the high cost of the injections puts them out of reach for many people.

HGH pills are highly effective with virtually no risk of side effects. While it can take several weeks for HGH pills to adequately raise HGH levels, one significant benefit is the natural, gradual rise in HGH levels. Your body will produce more of its own growth hormone naturally, without the risk of shutting down production entirely. HGH pills are also far less expensive than HGH injections, which can cost up to $10,000.

What's the best HGH supplement? Read our reviews!