Nebido or Jenasteron? Testosterone injections compared.
Two injectable testosterone options at our Busan Seomyeon clinic, priced very differently — Nebido at ₩500,000 per dose, Jenasteron at ₩100,000 per dose — because they do the same job on very different clocks. This guide compares them on dosing interval, steadiness of levels, travel-friendliness, monitoring and true annual cost, and explains why a ₩150,000 hormone test comes before either.
Men's Health Clinic in Busan
The hub behind this comparison — hormone panels, testosterone therapy, fertility screening and the other tests that sit beside them, with published prices.
Read the men's health page →- Is Nebido just a more expensive version of the same thing?
- Why would anyone choose the ₩100,000 option if the ₩500,000 one lasts longer?
- Can I get a testosterone injection on my first visit?
- How do I keep up injections if I live abroad?
- Will testosterone therapy affect my fertility?
Each is answered below, the way our urologists answer it in the consultation room.
Why does a ₩150,000 test come before either injection?
Testosterone therapy at Urogyn Men's Clinic in Busan Seomyeon begins with a hormone test — ₩150,000 for a single hormone, ₩500,000 for the full panel — because the symptoms that bring men in (fatigue, low libido, muscle loss, low mood) have many causes and only one of them is low testosterone. Once low testosterone is confirmed, the two injectable options are Nebido at ₩500,000 per dose and Jenasteron at ₩100,000 per dose. The difference is not quality; it is how long each dose lasts.
A urologist who starts testosterone without a confirmed low level is treating a guess, and a normal man given testosterone gains side effects without benefit. The men's health page covers the test and what a low result means; this page compares the two treatments once the result is in.
Single hormone. Full panel ₩500,000. Morning blood draw; a second confirmatory draw is standard practice before starting therapy.
Long-acting testosterone undecanoate. One injection lasts roughly ten to fourteen weeks once established.
Shorter-acting testosterone ester. One injection lasts roughly two to four weeks.
Listed alongside for men whose picture is circulation rather than hormone; the urologist advises.
What is each injection offered in Busan?
Both deliver testosterone into muscle to be released gradually into the blood; they differ in the chemical form and the oil it is carried in, which sets the release speed. Nebido is testosterone undecanoate in a slow-release formulation: a larger-volume injection given deep into the buttock, releasing over many weeks. Jenasteron is a shorter-acting testosterone ester: a smaller injection releasing over a few weeks. Neither is “stronger” — the target blood level, set at the first visit, is the same — but the shape of the level over time is very different, and that shape is what the rest of this page is about.
Dosing interval: the clock each one runs on
- 1 Nebido. A loading dose, a second dose about six weeks later, then one injection roughly every ten to fourteen weeks. Four to five injections a year once established.
- 2 Jenasteron. One injection roughly every two to four weeks, adjusted to your levels and symptoms. Thirteen to twenty-six injections a year.
The interval is the practical heart of the choice. A man who can attend a clinic — ours in Busan or one at home — every few weeks has both options open. A man who cannot has, in effect, one: the long-acting injection that needs attention four or five times a year.
Erectile Dysfunction in Busan
Low testosterone sits beside ED more often than men expect. The ED hub explains when a hormone result changes the treatment ladder — and when it does not.
Read the ED hub →Steadiness of levels: peaks, troughs and how you feel
A shorter-acting injection produces a peak in the days after the dose and a trough before the next one; some men feel that rhythm as good weeks and flat weeks, and the urologist manages it by adjusting the interval. Nebido's slow release produces a far flatter curve — fewer peaks and troughs, more even energy and mood — which is the clinical argument for it beyond convenience. The trade-off is inertia: if the dose or interval needs changing, a long-acting injection takes months to adjust, whereas a shorter-acting one can be re-tuned at the next visit. Men starting therapy for the first time at our Busan clinic are sometimes begun on the shorter-acting option for exactly that reason, and moved to Nebido once the right level is found.
Travel-friendliness: the international patient's question
For a man flying to Busan from abroad, the interval decides most of it. Nebido at four to five injections a year can be given at our Busan clinic on a visit and continued at a clinic at home with the same product or an equivalent long-acting testosterone; Urogyn provides a written summary in English of the dose, date and target levels so a home doctor can continue seamlessly. Jenasteron at two-to-four-week intervals is realistic only for men living in Korea, visiting Busan regularly, or able to arrange equivalent short-acting injections at home — which many can, since short-acting testosterone esters are widely available. The international patients guide covers how a first visit with a test, result and first dose is sequenced.
Monitoring: what is checked and when
Testosterone therapy of either kind is monitored, not simply dispensed. The urologist rechecks testosterone level a few months after starting, and periodically thereafter, to confirm the dose and interval are producing a level in the target range at the trough; checks the blood count — the ₩200,000 comprehensive blood test, ₩100,000 with other tests — because testosterone can thicken the blood; and, for men over forty, checks PSA — ₩150,000 at our Busan clinic — because testosterone therapy is not started or continued without knowing the prostate is healthy. The prostate care page explains why. With Nebido the monitoring visits align naturally with the injection visits; with Jenasteron they are folded into the more frequent schedule. Either way, the written plan you leave with names the tests and the dates.
True cost per year at our Busan clinic — not per dose
Per dose, Jenasteron is one fifth the price of Nebido. Per year, the gap narrows sharply: four to five Nebido doses at ₩500,000 against thirteen to twenty-six Jenasteron doses at ₩100,000 puts the two within the same broad range, with the exact figure depending on your interval. Add the cost of the visits themselves — time, travel, and for an international patient, flights — and Nebido is frequently the cheaper option for a man who cannot attend often, while Jenasteron is cheaper for a man who lives nearby. The ED cost guide places testosterone within the wider ladder; the honest summary is that the annual cost of the two is closer than the per-dose price suggests, and that the deciding cost is usually the visit, not the vial.
Fewer visits. Often the cheaper option once travel is counted for men abroad.
More visits. Often the cheaper option for men in Korea who can attend easily.
Who should not start either?
Three groups, said plainly. Men with a normal testosterone level, however tired: therapy adds risk without benefit, and the test exists to find this out. Men who want children in the near future: testosterone therapy suppresses sperm production, sometimes for a long time after stopping, and the fertility screening page is the right starting point for them instead. And men with an untreated prostate concern or a significantly raised PSA, until it has been assessed. The urologist declines to start therapy in all three, and says why.
How it runs at our Busan Seomyeon clinic — and your next step
Message us with your travel dates, your symptoms and how long they have lasted, any previous testosterone results, whether you plan to have children, and how often you could realistically attend a clinic — in Busan or at home. You will receive a reply in English confirming the ₩150,000 test, the published price of each injection, and the urologist's provisional view on which suits your life. On the day, the same doctor tests, reviews the result, gives the first dose if appropriate, and hands you a written plan with the monitoring dates. For the detail, start with the men's health page; for every figure, the full price list.
- Can I switch from Jenasteron to Nebido later? Yes, and it is a common path: start on the shorter-acting injection while the right level is found, then move to Nebido for convenience once stable. The urologist times the switch from your trough level.
- Are gels or tablets an option instead? Testosterone gels exist and suit some men; the two injections on Urogyn's list are the options the clinic dispenses. Ask at consultation if a non-injection route matters to you, and the urologist will say what is realistic.
The urologists who perform your vasectomy.
Every guide on this site is written and reviewed by the three board-certified urologists below. The doctor who consults with you is the doctor who operates and answers your follow-up — never a junior doctor or a different surgeon.
Nebido vs Jenasteron — FAQ
Related pages and next reads
Men's Health Clinic in Busan
Hormone panels, testosterone therapy and the tests beside them.
Erectile Dysfunction in Busan
When low testosterone and ED overlap — and when they do not.
Male Fertility Screening
Start here instead if children are in the near future.
Prostate Care in Busan
PSA monitoring — required before and during testosterone therapy.
ED Treatment Cost Guide
Testosterone within the wider ladder, priced.
International Patients Guide
Sequencing a test, result and first dose on one Busan visit.
Urogyn Men's Clinic, Seomyeon
7F-702, Ion City Building, 74 Seomyeon-ro, Busanjin-gu, Busan 47299 — one minute on foot from Seomyeon Station Exit 7 (Lines 1 & 2).
Mon–Fri 10:00–18:00 · Sat 10:00–14:00 · Sun closed
부산광역시 부산진구 서면로 74 아이온시티빌딩 7층 702호 — show this to your taxi driver.
Test first. Then choose the clock that fits your life.
Your dates, your symptoms and how often you can attend are enough for a written plan — the ₩150,000 test, which injection suits you and its true annual cost — in English, from the urologist who would treat you at our Busan Seomyeon clinic.