Raise your hand if you’ve ever felt personally victimized by your hormones.
Keep your hand raised if you’ve felt that wrath in the form of a breakout.
When our hormones are in perfect balance, our bodies work great. We grow and develop normally, feel energized and experience fewer mood swings. But, one little imbalance can throw everything off. And nothing is more evident that something is off balance than an acne breakout. To help us better understand how hormones relate to acne, we turned to board-certified dermatologist Dr. Ashley Magovern, who explains the acne and birth control connection.
Most acne breakouts in women are hormone related.
If you’ve been pointing the finger at hormones for your acne, you’re probably putting the blame in the right place. According to Dr. Magovern, “Most acne in women has a ‘hormonal’ component, as even the ‘normal’ hormones can cause oil production and contribute to acne.”
And, unfortunately, hormonal issues don’t discriminate based on age. “When teenagers start to produce oil, we see them start to break out,” she says. And adult women “tend to break out more around their menstrual cycle as the surge of hormones just before the cycle causes oil production.”
Note: Not all breakouts are caused entirely by hormones. Discover some of the other causes (many of which you can easily control).
Some hormonal birth control pills can help control or manage acne.
“Birth control pills, especially the drospirenone-containing ones like Yaz, can really help acne sufferers,” says Dr. Magovern, who frequently recommends them in her practice. Dr. Rebecca Booth, board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist, notes that estrogen-based birth control pills can help regulate hormones and prevent acne breakouts as well.
Both types of pills work by “keeping your hormone levels steady and preventing the cyclical hormone surges that can contribute to oil production,” says Dr. Magovern. More than 30 trials, conducted on more than 12,000 women support the notion that birth control can be an effective treatment for acne. In fact, when compared to antibiotics—another popular treatment for acne—birth control pills are shown to be a better long-term solution for acne management.
Also Read: How to Get Rid of Pimples on the Chin
