There are many women wondering if their doctor is right. In many cases, doctor might suggest birth control pills to regulate menstrual cycle and to help with acne problem. Therefore, should woman try the birth control pill for acne problem? Could it be just a myth? To explain this, we should learn first what are birth control pills and how do they work.
What are birth control pills?
Oral contraceptives, or birth control pills, contain synthetic forms of two hormones that body produces naturally. These hormones are estrogen and progestin, which regulate the female menstrual cycle. Some types of oral contraceptives use only progesterone hormones, but most use a combination of estrogen and progestin. As of 2004, there were three types of oral contraceptives or birth control pills marketed.
- Monophasic uses a fixed dose of both estrogen and progestin during the entire women’s cycle.
- Biphasic oral contraceptives use a constant amount of estrogen during the full cycle. In the same time, the amount of progestin is lower during the first half of the cycle and increases in the second half. This shift in dosage intends to mimic the natural ovarian cycle.
- Triphasic oral contraceptives may vary both the estrogen and progestin levels. It could also vary at different times during the cycle.
The goal of the biphasic and triphasic formulations is to achieve adequate control of the menstrual cycle. The goal is to achieve control while using lower doses of both estrogens and progestins, thereby reducing the risk of adverse effects.
Take birth control pill or not?
The decision about whether or not to take pills to regulate your period and control your acne is both medical and a personal decision. From your doctor, you need all the facts you might get. It is true that birth control pills can regulate periods, and some are effective in controlling acne. However, we want to know, what are the pros of taking birth control pills, and what are the cons? Think about your options, make a decision, and then let your doctor know what you decided.
You do not have to decide right away, but your doctor may also understand your concerns, and may be able to reassure you, as well. If your doctor does not have the patience to answer your questions, then seek a second opinion immediately.
Acne and birth control pills
If you are a woman looking for a way to reduce breakouts, you might want to discuss your skin problems with gynecologist instead of dermatologist. The FDA has approved low-dosage birth-control pills such as Ortho Tri-Cyclen and generic norgestimate/ethinyl estradiol for use in the treatment of acne. In Canada, doctors approve Diane-35, a combination of cyproterone acetate and ethinyl estradiol for the treatment of acne. Depending on your lifestyle and medical history, you could solve two problems with one prescription of birth control pill.
How does the birth-control pill work on acne?
Increased oil production is common problem for some women because they have excess body’s androgen, or male hormone production. This production can be highest just before menstruation starts. It appears that low-dosage birth-control pills can decrease the presence of excess androgens, thereby decreasing breakouts and helping acne problem. They work particularly well when used in conjunction with other therapies such as topical antibacterial agents or tretinoins. For many women this is no surprise because many have noticed an improvement in their skin after they started taking birth-control pills. According to a double blind, placebo-controlled study published in Fertility and Sterility, low-dose birth control pills can be an effective and safe treatment for moderate acne. The double blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial found that the birth-control pill containing levonorgestrel actually reduced the appearance of acne. Low-dose oral contraceptives also result in a low occurrence of estrogen-related side effects. Those side effects are nausea, headaches, and breast tenderness, in addition to low, if any, weight gain.
Is taking birth-control pills to control acne right for you?
You must know there are risks associated with taking birth-control pills. That is why you should take account before you make a final decision. These risks include increased chances of heart attack, strokes, blood clots, and breast cancer. All these side effects compounds if you smoke. Some other side effects are vaginal bleeding, fluid retention, melasma, or dark-brown skin patches, and depression. Not all that may be a worthwhile trade-off for clear skin of acne. However, if you are already using or considering usage of the pill for birth control, this remedy may be worth looking into.
Reducing acne with birth control pills
You must consider many issues before using birth control pills as an acne reducing treatment. Most important is whether the person has used any other treatment before embarking upon this choice. There are many pros and cons about taking birth control pills without considering them for acne for some women. Though in some cases birth control pills reduce the affects of acne, it is not always the case. If birth control pills will help depends largely on the skin type, hygiene habits, and heredity factors. Possible positives of birth control pills are that pills will alleviate some of the acne problems due to the amount of hormones that keeps the body in hormonal balance. Beside this, birth control pills may regulate periods and prevent pregnancy as the main purpose. Birth control pills may relieve PMS and cramps as well. Negatives for birth control pills are that smokers have more chance of getting cancer if they take birth control pills. It is also important to know that the pill does not prevent sexually transmitted disease, and does not always prevent pregnancy. If you are too young, you may be setting yourself up for acne yeast infections. These infections are difficult to cure completely. Moreover, you may gain weight, most commonly girls report gain weight about 12 pounds. Birth control pill may also cause cysts in the breasts and they may become tender and painful. Blood clots are possible as well as some other pills side effects. Those side effects are headache, irregular periods, fatigue and abdominal pain.
Are there medical benefits of the birth control pill?
Birth control pills not only prevent pregnancy, but they also have quite a few medical benefits despite how it seems until now. Many possible side effects might worry you, as well as many other young girls are worried. However, you must know those side effects ever happened, so it does not have to mean you will experience any of these. Most of women who used birth control pills did not experience any side effects, only benefits. In fact, many teen girls take the birth control pill just for its medical benefits and not for its protection against pregnancy. There are many other medical benefits of birth control pills, and acne solving is just one of those.
Acne
Until now, you probably learn that birth control pills are able to improve acne. For moderate to severe acne, which over-the-counter and prescription medications cannot cure, your doctor might prescribe you birth control pills. The hormones in the birth control pill can help stop acne from forming. It does not usually matter which type of birth control pills you take, since most of them could help to treat acne. You must know you should be patient though, since it takes several months for the birth control pills to work.
Menstrual cramps
For girls who experience severe menstrual cramps, birth control pills may be the solution. Birth control pills can help to decrease menstrual cramps.
Because the combined birth control pills prevent ovulation, they also get rid of pain that you experience with ovulation in the middle of your menstrual cycle when ovulation usually takes place.
Irregular menstrual periods. For girls whose menstrual periods are irregular, whether periods are too often or too late, birth control pills can help to regulate the menstrual cycle. Birth control pills also can reduce the amount and length of menstrual bleeding as some girls want.
Other medical benefits for birth control pills
Because birth control pills reduce bleeding, you are less likely to get anemia. This is low number of red bloods, which carry oxygen from the lungs to the tissues. Birth control pills decrease your chance of getting endometrial cancer and ovarian cancer, ovarian cysts, and breast lumps as serious disorders of women’s reproductive system. The birth control pill also protects against infections of your fallopian tubes. This is common problem that some doctors call pelvic inflammatory disease or PID. This condition requires hospitalization once it occurs. It also protects against pregnancies that occur outside the uterus called tubal or ectopic pregnancies. After all, you must know that birth control pills that contain estrogen and progestin hormones with higher androgen male hormone activity are more likely to make acne worse. Birth control pills that contain hormones with lower androgen activity are less likely to make acne worse. This birth control pill type may actually help clear it. Birth control pills that may help improve acne include Desogen, Demulen, Brevicon, Ortho Tri-Cyclen, Ovcon 35, Ortho Novum 7/7/7 and Nelova 1/35, so talk to your doctor and choose one of those. If you are having trouble with acne after you use one of these for several months, talk to your health care provider about switching to another pill.
