The Truth about Birth Control and Acne

Birth control is a great way to practice responsible sex, but it’s long been used to address several health concerns women face. One you may not have heard is that some people believe that there is a relationship between using birth control and acne becoming less severe. Some believe it can clear up nagging acne that simply won’t respond to anything else.

In this article, we’ll be referring exclusively to oral contraceptives. It turns out that they have a specific effect, the byproduct of which can result in clearer skin for the women who take them.

Oral contraceptives work by increasing a specific protein in a woman’s blood. This protein is known as sex hormone bonding globulin. Uninitiated by contraceptives, this globulin attaches to the testosterone in a woman’s body. So the more of it there is, the more testosterone isn’t getting expressed because of this protein’s presence.

It turns out that testosterone is a major driving force behind acne. This makes sense, of course, when you think about it. Puberty, which involves young men and women receiving a spike of testosterone, is also the time when most of us meet the perils of acne for the first time. Men and women who use steroids that up their testosterone levels also tend to face a higher risk of acne breakouts.

Now, if you’ve been regularly taking birth control pills and still suffer from acne on your face, it may be that you’re not taking the right kind. All oral contraceptives will result in less acne, but there’s a large degree of difference between the individual brands.

Three examples that have proven themselves time and time again—in terms of birth control and keeping acne breakouts down—are Yasmin, Yaz and Ortho Tri-Cyclen. These three and others like it all have a specific type of progesterone which has proven to be especially effective at binding to testosterone and limiting its ability to express itself.

On the other hand, versions like LoSeasonique and Loestrin carry a type of progesterone that is more androgenic. This is probably why it doesn’t work so well at taming testosterone levels. Fortunately, they’re still perfectly suited for preventing pregnancy.

So well birth control is a great way of enjoying a responsible sex life, consider all your options when you’re choosing a brand. If acne has been a consistent problem for you, the aforementioned versions have been proven to help.