We will be discussing birth control and acne in this article but before doing so, it might be beneficial to explain what causes acne. There are two types of glands in our skin; sweat glands and oil glands. The oil glands are largely located on the face, chest and upper back. They cluster around the hair shaft and drain their secretions into the hair follicles. These secretions are called sebum and are the natural skin oils that lubricate and protect the skin. Acne forms when the hair follicles get blocked and the sebum is trapped.
You might well ask what birth control has to do with acne. For some female patients, the cause of acne is an excessive production of hormones called androgens. This extra androgen in a woman's system causes the oil glands to produce more oil than they normally do and the resultant glut causes acne. Thus we see that indeed there is a relationship between birth control medication and acne. Pimples and Birth Control Pills
This is where oral contraceptives or birth control pills help. Such pills lower your androgen levels and consequently your acne outbreaks also cease. By and large, oral contraceptives are not what doctors choose as the first medication step against acne. It is only when other treatment options have been tried and not succeeded that this line of defense is fallen back upon. It helps if the concerned woman needs a form of birth control anyway. And for best results, doctors use oral contraceptives jointly with other forms of acne medicines. It's just that your doctor will have to correctly identify that your acne attack is influenced by hormones and has not come about due to other causes.
There are many conventional and over the counter drugs that try to eradicate acne. But the fact is that, with most of these medications the acne might go away, but it makes a comeback almost always. This is because these medicines just try to cure the symptoms of the problem without really going deep into the real causes of acne.
Conventional medicines often also cause side effects and
their implications can become more serious than the acne
itself. Medicines to Get Rid of Acne: