Why Some Men Are Injecting Testosterone Into Their Vocal Cords

The Trend: Testosterone injections aren’t just for muscle mass and sexual function anymore. The hormone is responsible for deepening teen boys’ voices during puberty, and that’s the logic behind men injecting it into their vocal cords to make them sound more masculine. The procedure isn’t new for trans men, but more cisgender men are now getting it done, too. 

What People Are Saying: In this procedure, testosterone is injected into the two vocal folds, which are bands of muscle in your voice box that vibrate when you talk or sing. Those vibrations create the sound of your voice, and the length, thickness, and tension of the folds determine the pitch of your voice. Injecting a small amount of testosterone into these muscles can lengthen the vocal cord and lower the pitch of the voice. 

What to Know: Experts caution this procedure should most definitely not be done at home, but it can work: Experts say it can successfully lower pitch between 15 to 30 Hz. Alongside influencer tips and apps, this is the latest “voicemaxxing” trend to help men’s voices sound deeper and more “manly.” These efforts to change your voice all fit into the broader “looksmaxxing” trend, where men are finding ways to improve their appearance — and often go to extreme lengths to do it.