Acne.org Products
Hormonal Therapy
Efficacy
63%
Based on All Available Studies
Strength of Evidence
Note: Improvement significantly increases after 24 weeks.
Hormonal Therapy
Acne.org’s Real World Take
Any brand of oral contraceptive appears to clear the skin about the same amount, regardless of whether it is officially approved for acne treatment. Some people report complete clearing of acne symptoms and others see partial relief. However, artificially controlling your hormones is a serious decision, so it’s best to proceed with caution.
Hormonal Therapy
How to Get It
Have a dermatologist? Make an appointment to get this medication. Don't have a dermatologist? See The American Academy of Dermatology Physician Database to find one.
Used Oral Contraceptives? Rate It:
Choose from 1 to 5 stars
October 13, 2017
Helps my hormonal acne
I don't take this just for acne, but it does help keep my hormonal acne under control. I'm lucky in that I experience no negative side effects from this birth control, only positive ones. It's stopped my sometimes horrific cramps and really moderated my usually very heavy flow. I've been on other birth control pills but this particular formulation seems to do the trick as far as helping my skin.
November 20, 2017
how long have you been on it? I didn't have much acne to start with but once i started this i began breaking out like crazy and I still am. I just started my third month and if this doesnt work within the next 4 months i think i will explode.
August 22, 2016
Product used: LoEstrin (Oral Contraceptive)
thought it wasn't helping, until I switched!
while I am not prone to inflammatory acne, I have lots and lots of closed comedones, clogged pores, etc. I am also very oily. i have 4 childrwn and have been on this pill inbetween each pregnancy. after my last baby, i had my face relatively umder control and went back on the pill. I was using the generic of this for 3 months and my forehead broke out in tiny rashlike pimples that you could only see in certain lighting but felt horrendous. I would also get flare ups of these along my temples and sometimes my cheeks, even though I was using BP. they never became inflamed, but continued to worsen. I have always had this issue but am now thinking it may have been exasperated by the birth control. this birth control pill also makes my hair grow faster. I had no other symptoms on it, my periods were very short and light. also, after doing some research on here, I discovered that loestrin in particular is pretty androgenic and best avoided if one already has issues with breakouts. I'm hoping getting on a different pill will improve things.
September 30, 2016
update! I switched to a good birth control for acne, ortho cyclen. never again. I broke out all over my nose, my upper lip has this weird rash like thing that I can't get rid off, I started getting painful under the skin bumps, and I turned into a total oil slick. my skin felt so greasy it was like I was sweating. I couldn't take it and am back on this. it also messed with my eyesight. my obgyn had me switch back after a month because he thinks I may be estrogen sensitive. I'm sad it didn't work for me and will be sticking with loestrin from now on.
September 26, 2014
Product used: Yasmin (Oral Contraceptive)
Was amazing... for the first two years
I was prescribed Yasmin when I was 16 and began suffering from acne breakouts, as well as getting my first boyfriend. So this was a great way to kill two birds with one stone. Within a few months my skin cleared up great, and for around 2 and a half years / 3 until the age of 18 and a half / 19 my skin was great. I still had the occasional couple of small spots around the time of the month, but nothing I would ever consider a problem or any more than anyone with naturally good skin would have. I forgot what it was like to have to think about my skin and it was amazing! However, when I was about to turn 19 my skin went CRAZY. And I mean crazy. And it was practically overnight. The whole bottom half of my face was covered in huge red spots and I spent weeks and weeks hysterically crying refusing to leave the house. I couldn't understand what was happening, I was still taking my Yasmin properly which had kept my skin so beautiful for so long!? After trying many topical treatments and antibiotics alongside my Yasmin I went to see a dermatologist as I was so confused about how this had literally happened overnight to my skin. The doctors told me that my hormones had changed and these were no longer the right set for my 19 year old self. I have now switched to Dianette 7/8 months ago and my skin is really good for the most part of the month but i'll still get a little breakout most months. Yasmin is a great pill for controlling slightly messed up hormones, but beware, if you're prone to acne Yasmin probably will not control seriously messed up hormones and you may find you have to switch to something stronger such as Dianette. If you have serious acne. I'll be switching off Dianette in a few months and will go back to yasmin hoping to get my skin to how it was for the first 3 years which was the best its ever been!!!!! Would definitely recommend, if it works for another 3 years for me like it did at first i'll be so happy :)
July 8, 2015
Birth control is suppressing your androgen levels, it is playing around with a very delicate balance in your body, as soon as you come off again beware having horrible breakouts for literally years... I'd recommend getting off it ASAP.
August 9, 2014
made my skin horrible
I am starting my second month of Sprintec. I use it to control my periods which is workiing. However acne-wise its not the best. I started breaking out horribly when i first went on it! My skin has never been this bad!! I dont know what to do :/
January 24, 2014
Not to sure...
Cons:
Mood swings
headaches
acne in sunlight
This was my first birth control. I'm 23 years old now, I was 18 when i started and stopped after a year or half a year. I can't remember. But I do remember this birth control was good because it stopped my acne on my face right away from starting it, it didn't get me pregnant. Great right? Wrong. In the summer time, I started to get acne all over my back and chest, even my face. but very very small pimples and only when I was in direct sunlight. (Swimming, even with or without sunscreen. walking outside.) It was like my skin couldn't breathe! so all these mini pimples would scatter all over my chest and back. my face had larger ones and I would have horrible headaches and cramps when my period came. I also was very bitchy. so angry about nothing, then emotional when my period was about to start.(for example. i'll be pissed off and rage and then about an hour later i'll start to cry. then the next day my period would start) it didn't make my vagina dry though. so In the winter time I didn't get acne (the mini ones that would scatter all over my chest and back like in the summer time). I recommending because it helped only in the winter times because the sun didn't affect me as badly as it did in the summer times. I guess because my skin wasn't exposed.
January 11, 2014
Fair
Pros:
No weight gain
Cheap(er)
Cons:
Difficult to lose weight on
Initial breakout
Migraines, moodiness
I took this medication for two months. The initial breakout left me feeling miserable; I had painful cystic acne all over my chin. I also got terrible headaches, and was a moody all the time. I think my acne is finally starting to clear up a bit but I don't know if it's because the medication is actually helping or if my initial breakout is just ending. This is not the pill for me at all.
March 13, 2013
Cons:
- Major cystic breakouts
- Moody
- Weight gain
I had moderate acne prior to taking this birth control. It wasn't until the second week on the pill that my face started to react drastically. I started to get cystic breakouts all over my face: a lot along the jawline and also on my cheeks, where I never had acne before. My face was bright red and it was noticeably bad (my mom, who never comments on it, even asked me why my acne had gotten so bad). After two months on the pill, I decided to stop taking it because I could not handle it anymore. My face immediately improved and a week after I stopped taking it, I started taking Vitamin B5 and the vitamin Beta Carotene. It's been about 6 months now and my skin is perfectly clear! To begin with, I was very skeptical about taking this birth control or any birth control, because of all the side affects and how unnatural it is. I suggest looking up the vitamins I mentioned and trying those first! Unless you're willing to bare through 8 months of severe acne, I wouldn't try Ortho Tri-Cyclen!
March 10, 2013
Product used: Yasmin (Oral Contraceptive)
Pros:
Cheap with RX plan.
Cons:
No birth control pill, no matter how "weak" has worked for me acne-wise. They have all made be break through bleed, gave me worse skin, made me gain weight (this one included).
Try it, but don't expect a miracle. Stop if you start gaining weight or your skin gets worse (with Dr.'s approval, I guess.) Don't believe it when anyone tells you the bp doesn't make acne worse.
February 5, 2013
Pros:
nothing
Cons:
nausea
bloating
messed up face-got more scars
mood swings
depression
It's not worth it and I've been on this pill for two months. My face has never been worse. I'm so sad and am going to try yasmin next.
February 20, 2012
Product used: LoEstrin (Oral Contraceptive)
Pros:
lighter/regulated periods
no weight gain
effective birth control
Cons:
terrible initial breakout
takes a long time to adjust (i essentially had a light period for 3 months straight)
deep cystic blood pimples
for birth control, loestrin is great for acne, it sucks i had experienced cystic acne before, but not like the acne loestrin has caused me loestrin gives me deep, painful, dime sized blood pimples, and consequently i have crater-like scars too the ones i dont pick shrink down in size but still reside under the surface of my skin i had hopes to grow out of my acne before taking loestrin but now my skin seems ruined for life if you're acne is not that bad, i would recommend loestrin as a bc, but never as an acne cure
Pros:
not getting Pregant
Acne free
not dry Vagina