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
December 19, 2010
Product used: YAZ (Oral Contraceptive)
Cons:
Mood swings.
Constant bloating.
When I went off the pills my acne became terrible.
I started taking Yaz not for my acne, which used to be very mild, just as a birth control pill. Now almost a year after I've stopped taking it, I'm on this website looking for a cure for my acne which has become unbearable. I had to stop taking the pills after four months because I felt like I was going insane ! I would cry all the time, I never felt like doing anything, and I stopped talking to many of my friends because I was just depressed. I finally realized it must be the pills that had caused this change in me. After I went off of them, I had a terrible cystic breakout on the sides of my cheeks where I had never gotten acne before. At the time I just believed my hormones were balancing out and it would all soon be over. The mood swings stopped and I was myself once again, which was wonderful. But now these pills seemed to have forever changed my skin. It is oilier and I get cysts every month. I wish I had read reviews about the pills before I went on them, it was so not worth it. Bottom line, I would not recommend them !
November 8, 2010
Product used: YAZ (Oral Contraceptive)
Pros:
Cleared up all my acne - had perfect, glowing skin!
Lighter and less painful periods
Felt really happy on it as it cleared my skin, and gave me new confidence!
Cons:
Weight gain (5kg) - but I didn't mind because I could do with a bit of weight gain and bigger bust size!
Yaz really worked for me! Hormones had a huge part to play in causing my acne (non inflammatory). Been suffering from it for the last 12 years - mainly concentrated on my chin area. I had tried so many different treatments before this, but nothing worked in the long term. Been on Yaz for 8 years - it has changed my life.
May 1, 2010
Product used: YAZ (Oral Contraceptive)
Pros:
prevents getting pregnant
more regular period
helps acne
Cons:
severe period pains
heavy periods
bigger boobs (was 32g before went on it already so didn't want them to get bigger)
severe depression
nausea
thrush
this pill is very helpful if you want to clear up skin, i've suffered from acne on my back for years now and after taking this pill it has finally begun to clear it up and its nice to have regular periods for a change! but i've had many bad side-effects to this pill as seen above! the nausea has cleared up after the first month! but the depression is consistent and i have really heavy periods with really bad pains now! and i've started to get thrush which never happened before this! i'm not saying this pill caused all of these but they have only started since i've been on it!
i hope this information has been helpful....it does clear up skin for some people but may also cause uncomfortable side effects!
April 1, 2010
Product used: Yasmin (Oral Contraceptive)
Pros:
-Absolutely clear and healthy skin!
Cons:
-Weight gain
-Irritable bowel syndrome (indigestion, acid reflux, and bloating)
-Hair thinned! :[
Not worth the cons! I took this for about 2 years. The acne didn't disappear until about 2 months after taking it. I would break out during my period, so my doc said I could skip the white pills and keep taking the actual meds, and so I never got a period or ever broke out! After I lost my insurance, I started paying $60/mo and finally gave up. This medicine wrecked my system and after 6+ months of being clean from it, the acid reflux is gone, but I still have bloating and my hair has thinned out noticeably. I'm only 23! Now that my acne doesn't stem from hormones as much as it did when I was younger, I would not begin birth control again. (By the way, I am using Nioxin for my hair and it's worked wonders!!)
November 5, 2009
Pros:
Very light periods with no cramps,no noticable weight gain drastically improved acne condition, bigger breasts.
Cons:
very, very emotional for the first 3 or 4 months. possible loss of muscle tone.
I'm 18 years old and have been using tri-cyclen since I was 14 and havent thought of switching. It works great for me, i hardly noticed my period and it improved my acne for years. I'm not sure how it has affected my weight or muscle because I've been on it for so long.
works great for acne!
November 1, 2009
Product used: YAZ (Oral Contraceptive)
Pros:
my acne has completely cleared up.
Cons:
my acne didn't change until after about 3 months. After that, its like I went acne free over night.
It works but it takes time.
October 25, 2009
Pros:
i am at the end of my second month but i really havn't been sexually active so I'm not sure about how effective it is
Cons:
I was hoping for a bc that would help clear up my acne. It has made it much worse. I know it takes a while for the body to adjust but i am very unhappy with how bad my skin has been for two months
my skin freaked out, nausea, increased appitite, bad headaches (never got headache before)
October 22, 2009
Product used: Yasmin (Oral Contraceptive)
Pros:
Regulating Period, Periods much lighter and less painful
Cons:
Went on this pill for regulating my periods and clearing up my skin. I only use to have a few spots, since going on Yasmin my sking has gotten much worse but i have only been on it one month so i am going to stick with it until the end of month 3.
I will stick with it and see what happens!
October 21, 2009
Product used: YAZ (Oral Contraceptive)
Pros:
The 1st month it gave me a shorter period and I had zero cramps. It didnt get me pregnant.
Cons:
The 1st month I started getting cystic, 4th month it got a little better, 5th month it got really bad just like month 1. Starting Sunday I will be back on Ortho Tri Cyclen. And it make me moodier.
It didnt work for me, I gave it plenty of time to work, but it made my pmdd worse and gave me cystic acne instead of clearing up my regular acne.
October 17, 2009
Product used: Yasmin (Oral Contraceptive)
Pros:
Works just grate!!! Making my periods a lot shorter and lighter, decreasing my cramps.
Cons:
3 weeks bleeding at the beginning! But now I have my period every 28 days!!! The best!!
I love it. Ocella is exact same think as Yasmin.
dont pay more!
Pros:
Works as an oral contraceptive. That's it.