Birth control pills can be used to treat acne in women

Why Are Birth Control Pills Recommended For Acne Treatment In Women?

First of all, not all women would be best benefited by the birth control pills treatment. Usually, only those who do not respond well to the regular treatments for acne combined with symptoms affecting the regularity of the menses are recommended this particular path. Hence, those women who have had problems with acne on or before the menses occur, and at the same time experience irregularities with their cycle would best benefit from the birth control treatment.

The birth control pills treatment is nothing but a process that suppresses the androgen production in the body. Since most of the acne formation is caused by the over activity of the androgen glands, the birth control pills attack the very root cause of the problem. There are two ways in which the contraceptives help here – (i) they reduce the production of androgen and (ii) block the reception of the androgen.

In this way the sebum secretion, which normally occurs when androgen plays its role in the body, is reduced to the minimum possible levels. This is turn, reduces acne formation since there is no extra sebum secretion that would promote the hyperkeratinization.

Another factor that can prevent the role of the androgen found in the contraceptives is the estrogen. This is another friendly hand in the fight against acne, since it reduces the production of another hormone (the gonadotrophin) which helps androgen production.

The Right Combination

There are many contraceptive available today in the market. The best to use though is those that are recommended by the doctor – make no exception at that. However, it is interesting to note that the equation between the estrogen and progestin in any contraceptive plays a very important role on the efficiency of the acne treatment. The best combination is when the estrogen levels are much higher than the progestin levels.

This is because progestic is known to promote the production of androgen (which is turn promoted the excess production of sebum, resulting in hyperkeratinization and then acne) while the estrogen is known to reduce it. When the former is more, acne would more often than not become aggravated; if the condition is totally absent sometimes it is induced by such contraceptive. On the other hand, when the estrogen level is higher, the acne disappears almost like magic. In the worst cases, the acne is reduced considerably.

From this point of view the doctor almost always prefers to prescribe third generation contraceptives especially for this reason – the estrogen level is high in these types, while the progestin levels are the lowest possible.
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