Best Birth Control Pills For Acne

Pills Are Not Just For Contraception Anymore

Reducing acne using birth control pills?  You’ve got it right. Birth control pills are not for contraceptive use only.  

Since the main cause of acne is hormonal imbalance, many doctors are looking into the possibility of using birth control medications for acne.  Birth control pills contain provisions needed to regulate hormonal activities.

Using birth control pills to treat acne is effective only for females.  Androgens, which are actually male hormones naturally present in a woman’s body system, cause the sebaceous glands to produce more oil. It is the overproduction of oil or sebum that causes the clogging of pores, which leads to acne. 

Birth control medications, which contain the female hormones estrogen and progestin, decrease the production of androgens in the female body.  They work in two ways: reducing the level of circulating androgens in the bloodstream, and preventing the formation of androgens in the body.

Hormonal Imbalance

Here are some clues that doctors look into in order to identify acne that may be brought about by irregular hormonal activities:

• Acne that appears in adult patients for the first time.
• Acne outbreaks that occur before menstruation.
• Irregular menstrual cycle.
• Increased levels of androgens in the blood stream.
• Excessive growth of hair/hair in unusual places, which is a sign of excessive androgen production.

Once the doctor has identified that your acne is indeed caused by hormonal fluctuations, you might be prescribed to take a combination of several different medications which include birth control pills.

For women who have mild to moderate non-scarring acne, oral contraceptives such as Diane-35, Ortho TriCyclen, Estrostep, and Alesse are used along with topical acne products and antibiotics. 

For severe and scarring acne, these birth control pills are one of the two major treatment options, with isotretinoin as the other option.  Doctors who want to avoid the severe side effects of isotretinoin prefer to use birth control pills for acne patients.

Your doctor might prescribe an anti-androgen in combination with oral contraceptives.  Anti-androgens decrease androgen production in the ovaries and adrenal glands.  They also help prevent existing androgens from producing excessive oil that can clog the pores and cause acne.

Are Birth Control Pills Right For You?

Before you use any birth control pills for acne, you must make sure that you meet the necessary indications below:

• You must be a woman of at least 15 years of age.
• You must have started having menstrual cycles.
• You have no known medical reasons not to take contraceptive pills.
• You want the pill for birth control.
• You plan to stay on the pill for at least 6 months.
• You have acne that does not respond to antibiotics and topical medications.

You also need to keep in mind that birth control medications can trigger side effects which may be undesirable on your part.  In order to prevent such side effects, it is always best that you seek your doctor’s advice regarding the best birth control pills for your acne. You might also want to consider using instead home remedies for acne.