Birth control for beauty?

I wish someone had told me about this when I was younger, so I'm going to write about it now in case you're suffering through the same problem I had when I was in my early twenties.

I'd always had mild acne when I was a teenager. Nothing serious, just the usual hormonal stuff, little pimples here and there. It was bad enough to merit a trip to the dermatologist, though, but not enough for a prescription-strength medication. Instead, she gave me a thirty-day supply of topical antibiotic (tetracycline, if I remember correctly) and a recommendation that I use Purpose facial soap as a cleanser and Clear By Design with 2% Benzoyl Peroxide as a treatment. She thought that the harsher Clearasil and Oxy products with their 5-10% solutions would be too harsh.

Sure enough, the treatment plan worked. I would go to bed with a face dotted with the Clear By Design lotion, and the next morning, voila! Pimples be gone! It was a miracle cream, although I didn't appreciate it as much at the time. All I knew was that it kept the zits at bay and left my skin relatively smooth and clear.

For whatever reason, though, my poor skin suddenly went into overdrive not too long before I moved to Japan to teach English when I was 22. Instead of the occasional little pimple, I suddenly had what a doctor later told me was acne vulgaris. Yeah, it's as nasty as it sounds. Big, inflamed acne cysts appeared on my face and would not go away for weeks. Once they did finally disappear, they left behind dark brown spots that would stubbornly stay put for at least 18 months, if not more, before finally disappearing altogether. Of course, they made sure to leave behind a much more lasting legacy: a nice little pockmark. Thanks a lot.

I'm still not sure to this day what caused all of it. The stress of moving to a different country, adapting to a different diet, the different environment and climate? Who knows? Most of my fellow Western teachers suffered through some form of skin problems throughout their tenure in Japan, so likely it was a combination of all three, which probably put our hormones out of whack. Whatever the cause, I was mortified.

To be sure, the problem wasn't as serious as I make it out to be here. I would get only 1-2 at a time, once a month or so, unlike others who suffer from this condition who have a face (and often neck) full of the cysts. Still, it was enough to make me self-conscious and desperate to find a cure. Thankfully, I was well-paid in Japan, so I could afford to try all kinds of treatments. When I visited Singapore, I even contemplated an appointment at their Skin Care Institute, but the brevity of my stay precluded that.

Finally, during my visit home after my first year, I nabbed a prescription for Retin-A. It worked beautifully, and although it left a very slight red flush on my face the first few months, the acne mercifully disappeared.

Of course, a year later, when I prepared to go home permanently, I had a two-month-long backpacking trip throughout Southeast Asia on my itinerary before the final journey back home. That meant lots of potential for incidental sun exposure, even though I'm very vigilant about my SPF. As I had been sufficiently warned by my doctor that Retin-A made my skin very sun-sensitive, I decided to forego it altogether during my trip. Thankfully, my skin cooperated and didn't act up once.

When I finally returned to the US, though, I went on birth control pills almost immediately, and lo and behold, a miracle happened: for the first time in years, my skin cleared up and never, ever gave me trouble again.

Now, I know this may sound like total BS, given all the information we know about acne and its triggers, but up until that point no one had ever pointed out to me that really severe acne could be cause by hormonal imbalances. For whatever reason, my own hormonal levels were sufficiently disturbed to give my skin all that trouble all those years. Once I got on the BCP, I never once had any problems, and my skin looked better than it had ever been.

I wish someone had told me this sooner, as I would have saved myself tons of money and heartache by going on the pill right away. If you're suffering from severe acne, the kind that can potentially disfigure your face with pockmarks and/or hyperpigmentation, you might want to talk to your doctor about this option. It's arguably safer than Accutane, and if you're sexually active (but monogamous), you could pretty much kill two birds with one stone. Plus, BCP also has the virtue of regulating your periods, so if you also suffer from heavy, painful menstrual periods, this could be a beneficial triple whammy.

Bear in mind that BCP has tons of side effects, including increased risk of blood clotting, stroke, hypertension, among a host of other symptoms. I have chronic hypertension, but that has nothing to do with my being on the pill. Rather, my family has a very strong genetic tendency towards the disease, so I'm closely monitored by my doctor and am on both the pill and blood pressure medication. You must talk to your doctor about all the risks involved and whether or not your health profile allows you to be on the pill.

If you do find that you're a great candidate for it, by all means, go for it! It may actually improve your skin, and who doesn't want that? Remember, too, that Ortho-Tricyclen, the contraceptive that's been heavily marketed the last few years as being the pill that also clears up your skin, isn't your only option. Just about any birth control pill -- by virtue of the fact that they regulate your menstrual cycle with hormones -- can perform the same miracles. It's up to you and your doctor to find out which one is right for you. For example, I tried going on Ortho-Tricyclen twice, and both times my skin broke out like crazy. Plus, I actually had my period twice in one month. I ended up going to the same pill I had when I first came back from Japan, another Ortho product called Ortho-Novum. Now I'm on the generic version, which costs $5.00 a month. Way cheaper than Retin-A, and I daresay more effective.

Like I said, it's entirely up to you and your doctor as to whether or not you're a good candidate for birth control pills. You should definitely talk to him/her before making this decision and find out all the pros and cons. If you were already thinking of going on the pill anyway for another reason -- to alleviate the inconvenience and suffering brought on my especially heavy periods, as a contraceptive, etc. -- and are also having to deal with pesky breakouts, then it just might be the answer you've been looking for.



Note: Photo taken by Stacy Lynn Baum and reproduced here under the Creative Commons License.