Sunday, November 20, 2011

Are Birth Control Pills A Remedy For Acne?

By Owen Jones


Acne is a big problem for many teenagers. They find it extremely embarrassing, uncomfortable and a source of mockery from bullies. However, acne is a hormonal problem and there is not a lot you can do about it except not encourage it to become any worse by attempting to reduce the amount of oil on the affected area.

However, it has been found that the hormonal imbalance can sometimes become corrected in girls if they take the birth control pill. This is not an ideal answer because the long term use of birth control pills can also bring its own worries with it. The option is not accessible to boys though, so do not even think about it.

It would depend on the birth control pills - what they contain, so you would need to seek the advice of a GP after trying the normal remedies for acne. The first thing to try is to tie your hair back so that the oil in your hair does not get onto your skin. Next, you should replace your pillow cases frequently, very frequently because they will get covered in oil too.

Wear clothes that do not have high collars, because these too will collect oil and dirt and put them back into your skin. If the acne is on your back, wear loose-fitting clothes for the same reason. Wash your face no more than usual - three or four times a day but use plain soap without perfume. Be careful with make-up too. In fact, endeavour not to wear any.

If these basic precautions do not get rid of your acne, try an over-the-counter (OTC) remedy. OTC remedies range from antiseptic or / and antibiotic creams and rinses to salycilic acid washes, all of which are harmless and designed to remove the excess oil from your skin and kill the bacteria, which together with the oil cause the break-outs.

If you have come this far and nothing has helped, it is worth visiting your physician about birth control pills. You would not be taking them for birth control, so he might tell you take a half tablet each two or three days or a quarter tablet a day - only enough to reset your hormonal imbalance, not make you temporarily infertile.

In fact, doctors have been using birth control pills to help tackle acne for years, but it has been kept quiet for various reasons that anyone may imagine including the charge of encouraging promiscuity.

However, the pill not only reduces female hormones such as progestin and oestrogen, but also the male hormone testosterone, which can be responsible for increased acne.

Other birth control pills reduce progesterone, which will reduce the androgen hormones, which in turn may reduce the production of surplus oil. I have to saying 'may' and 'might' because only a GP can decide which is the most appropriate pill for you. Some women react badly to some pills and have to be taken off them entirely or placed on a different type.

There are yet other birth control pills that prevent fertility in a completely different way, by increasing the degree of testosterone and so they might cause your body to produce even more acne and really bad acne may lead to acne scarring and that is the last thing you would like all over your face.




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