Birth Control Pills for Acne

In the last years, the medicine world was arguing the use of birth control pills for acne. The scientists and researchers now seemingly agree that oral contraceptives (read birth control pills) may indeed help removing acne scars, lesions and breakouts in women. The general consensus is on prescribing birth control pills as an acne treatment in cases where acne cannot be treated with other treatment methods. In fact, the FDA already approved three birth control pills to treat acne: Orthro, Estrostep and Yaz. These medicines can be deemed as hormonal acne treatment solutions.

The reason why birth control pills are able to treat acne is that they reduce the amount of sebum which is the oil that is present in our skin and is found in excess quantities in individuals suffering from severe acne conditions. Acne is formed with sebum and dead skin cells accumulating in follicles, forming a plug that causes further oil and dead cell accumulation. Afterwards, these formations can be inflamed and infected with the effect of bacteria present in the human body.

Are Birth Control Pills for Acne Enough?

Unfortunately, the answer to this question is “no” as birth control pills only target sebum, and sebum is only one of the factors that cause acne. Hence, effective use of birth control pills for acne requires the addition of other treatments and natural cures for acne like certain creams and solutions to the treatment mix. You should also be careful about nutrition and drink lots of water as drinking water really helps acne. And you should not expect instant miracles from this treatment; in fact, your condition may actually get a lot worse before finally starting to improve. At the best, you should expect to use birth control pills and wait for a few months for the treatment to show any significant effect. But after that point you can see some serious improvement as your acne scars and lesions will be greatly reduced and healed.

What Are the Side Effects of Birth Control Pills for Acne?

Birth control pills are relatively safe as they are already being prescribed and used for reasons that have nothing to do with acne. Millions of women throughout the world use birth control pills to prevent unwanted pregnancies, and there are a lot of oral contraceptives already approved for use by the FDA. That said, birth control pills are not prescribed or recommended for certain individuals. Women above 35 years, smokers, who has any kind of cardiovascular problems or cancer history and blood clots in the extremities are considered as the high risk group and are not normally allowed to use birth control pills.

Even if you are not within this risk group, you can experience a couple of side effects if you are using birth control pills for acne including headaches, nausea, high blood pressure and elevated risk of heart disease, and depression. So, even if birth control pills are somehow proven to be effective in curing acne, you should make sure that you don’t belong in the risk group and consult your doctor to prevent any risk situations that may arise from these side effects of oral contraceptives. If your doctor approves, you can then use birth control pills as an acne treatment with peace of mind.