Acne Solutions: Contraceptive Pills

Are you still suffering from constant breakouts, even as a college student, a young adult just starting your career, or as a new mother? If you’ve been plagued with recurring acne—even though you follow a careful diet, cleanse your skin regularly and take all of your vitamins – the problem might not be your skin care regimen. You might want to consider contraceptive pills as a hormone therapy to treat your acne.

Acne can form when your hormones are off balance. When the androgen hormones are working too quickly, they increase the oil production of your skin’s sebaceous glands, which then leads to those unfortunate red bumps that crop up on your face.

So how do contraceptive pills counteract this excessive oil production? Simple: birth control pills limit the amount of testosterone (an androgen hormone) in your body, which then reduces the oil production in your skin. As the hormones in oral contraceptives reduce the excess oil on a daily basis, you could have smooth and clear skin in as soon as six weeks.

Birth control pills are all different, so it may be some time before you find the right pill for your body. Side effects can include nausea, weight gain and soreness, so if you’ve been experiencing these problems, you may want to switch to another pill until you find the right one that works for you. Oral contraceptives do carry some potential health risks and can only be obtained by prescription. Your doctor or dermatologist will be able to answer any questions that you might have about the hormones in oral contraceptives. For the record, contraceptive brands like Yaz come highly recommended for treating moderate acne by the FDA, so you can feel comfortable asking your doctor if this contraceptive is right for you even if you’re seeking to use it only as a form of acne treatment.