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
May 13, 2015
Product used: Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo (Oral Contraceptive)
Works great for me. Acne struggler for 16 years.
I've had acne since I was 10 years old and now I am 26. It made me very self conscious and embarrassed all throughout school. I've tried everything from topical creams prescribed by dermatologists, proactive (for a few years), proactive knock-offs and Murad but nothing kept the acne away. It was a constant and exhausting battle. I have oily skin and ,by genetics, large pores. So the combo of the two was just a recipe for disaster. The type of acne I had were mainly white heads and sometimes cystic acne. I decided to try Ortho Tricyclen Lo last year and the first 2-3 months was just awful. My skin dried out, my chin was flaky and my chin and jawline were covered in pimples. My skin was worse than before but I heard about the first few months of the purging stage so I decided to ride it out. By the 3rd or 4th month my skin did start to improve. At that time I had also invested in a clarisonic mia and I think the combination of the two improved my skin dramatically. My skin is back to being oily but I don't break out like crazy anymore aside from the 1 or 2 pimples I get during my period. I am now on my 7th month of the pill and I have clear skin. The last time I had clear skin was 16 years ago. Wow. I don't know how long I will be on the pill for but whenever I decide to go off of it I hope my skin doesn't freak out and resort back to massive breakouts.
April 30, 2015
yes!
Tried this a year ago and it took about 3 months to really kick in. Then a combination of lots of sun and this bc and i was completely clear. Except like one tiny one right before my period that lasted like a day. I had dealt with moderate acne since I was 14 so this was huge for me. After like 10 months I got cocky and thought maybe I had just grown out of it finally. So I stopped and it slowly creeped back in not too severely at first. Then after a few months, starting at the beginning of this year, it's been horrible. I'm talking two new giant cysts on my face every day. And a breakout of like 5 new cysts on my back every week. I tried eliminating dairy/gluten/sugar, adding vitamins, working out, being very careful to do everything healthy for my skin and nothing has worked. I'm now on my 4th week back on Sprintec and at first it only made it worse. I've been pretty depressed and have been hiding in my house but I haven't had any new spots on my face/chest in two days, skin feels like it's calming down, and my back has been clear since the third week. I believe it will get better because it worked before. That being said, I think bc is something you should reeeeaaally be careful about considering. Do you want to rely on it forever? It works for me and clears me up 99% but also occasionally gives me migraines and mood swings plus I'm afraid of being dependent on it forever. It's a choice of having clear skin and being happy but dealing with the long term downsides.
July 8, 2015
I came off birth control-broke out horrible as well:(... Tried so many things held out 1.5 yrs couldn't take it anymore. Been back on the pill almost 3 mo's. Pretty sure I had an initial breakout which is still healing. Just curious has yours finally kicked in? I'm afraid maybe it won't work for me this time
January 11, 2015
Product used: Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo (Oral Contraceptive)
Did nothing for acne
This is a low estrogen pill. The benefit of that is that it generally has very few side effects. I had no side effects.
However, I took this pill for two whole years and it resulted in 0 improvement in my acne. I learned after the fact that low estrogen pills do not usually help with acne.
Also, it is extremely costly for a birth control, as there is no generic. Though I would recommend it as a form of birth control, I would not recommend it in the treatment of acne.
November 17, 2014
Product used: YAZ (Oral Contraceptive)
NOT worth it
I initially went on Yaz after trying a few other birth controls to help control my ovarian cysts. Yaz is the only bc that doesn't make me nauseous, gain weight, or emotional which is great! Downside: HORRIBLE acne. I am 22 years old and I have never had acne this bad. I'm talking 6-7 cysts at a time, black heads, whiteheads, pustules, hyper-pigmentation and scars. The first 3 months were hell on earth. I went to my derm and got on Solodyn, retinol and BP. My acne only kept getting worse. Now it has been 3 months and it's starting to calm down. The only reason I stayed on it is because my doctor said I will really throw my hormones out of whack if I go off so soon. I will do 6 months more and then slowly get off it. My skin is getting better. It's really true what they say about the 3 month mark, like magic it started to disappear. I ordered The Regimen, I drink green tea and I take 60mg of zinc every day. If you take Yaz you NEEEEEEEEED to take zinc supplements. They have really helped. Overall, I do not recommend going on Yaz and I will be getting an IUD soon!
November 15, 2014
Product used: Yasmin (Oral Contraceptive)
scary
Physical side effects were manageable but still unpleasant. I had diarrhea often, strong headaches that made my eyes hurt and I couldn't bear to listen to any sound, my forehead would throb in pain. Often I would feel numbness in my left arm and left leg. Both legs would hurt and shake while trying to sleep, kinda like restless legs. Couple of times I felt a chest tightness, like losing my breath. I'm a skinny woman and all of sudden I had bloated belly and was retaining water even though my diet stayed the same (I suffer from celiac sprue so I follow a gluten-free diet). I felt nausea everyday. My skin seemed to get a better texture though but I had a breakout of cystic acne that seemed to get worse. Anyway I feel defeated that I was forced to quit this pill, unfortunately I became severely depressed and tried to commit suicide after 3weeks on Yasmin. I was crying and feeling miserable without any explanation, I just wanted to die. I know a lot of people will say that I should have kept taking it for 3months to see results but I'm sure that in my case I would end up dead if I kept on. As soon as I quit taking it I became my normal self, sure I still have acne but at least I'm not an emotional physical rollercoaster. It didn't work for me but maybe it will work for you.
October 27, 2016
Good for you, I think this pill has many side effects that aren't well known to people. It would have been really bad for you to continue for 3 months probably.
October 22, 2014
I wanted it to work so badly
I was on ortho lo which cost 50 dollars a month so after hearing great things about what ortho regular could do for my skin AND it was free i decided to make the switch.
The first month i didnt see much difference in my skin I was breaking out a bit but i heard that there was an initial breakout so i figured thats what must have been happening.
By month two my skin had erupted with small flesh colored bumps all over my skin! The kind that would just sit there no matter what i did but if i squeezed a hard plug would come out. Determined to believe the whole "it gets worse before it gets better" legend i tried to stick it out. I made appointments with estheticians, had glycolic peels, microderms...you name it. My face was red, bumpy, angry and flat out depressing. After end of month 2 start of month 3 i decided to switch back to Ortho lo...its been about a week and my skin is starting to return to normal. I suffered for 3 months hoping for some kind of miracle skin cure that would never come.
I've heard great things for others but unfortunately they didnt happen for me.
June 18, 2014
Happy Happy Happy on Ortho Cyclen! :)
This is actually a review for ortho cyclen, not ortho tri cyclen. It's the same hormones, it just does vary throughout the month. I'm so happy being on ortho cyclen. I have been on many other pills, and this is the first to make a difference to my acne. The first week, I broke out. Big ugly bumps all over my problem areas (chin and between eyebrows). Then, after the initial breakout, for the next two months my acne was the same as it had always been and I didn't notice a big difference. The usual big white heads mixed with lots of closed comedones. The medi spa I go to sometimes gave me a sample of a benzoyl peroxide cream, and I used it on my problem areas where the skin was really congested. I think this helped to speed up the process. It brought my closed comedones to a head and made my acne flare up horribly! But then ... magic! I feel as if the benzoyl peroxide helped to speed up the process of the ortho cyclen clearing my skin. Now, my skin is almost completely clear. My acne is so small it is very easily covered with a bit of foundation. So, although my skin is not yet perfectly clear, the ortho cyclen has minimized my acne so much I feel very comfortable and confident that it will all clear up soon. Plus, my periods are not heavy or painful. I am not nearly as dizzy and icky feeling on my periods as I used to be. My skin looks noticeably less congested and is not sore like it used to be.
December 24, 2013
:(
Cons:
Nausea
Mood swings
Acne worsens
I've been on ortho tri cyclen for 5 months now, and for the first 4 months it really cleared up my skin, better than it's been in years! But this month my skin has broken out worse than ever before. Plus I have naturally dry skin so when it breaks out and I try to treat it, it dries out too and looks disgusting. On top of that I've been nauseous and had crazy mood swings. I've been trying to stay positive, but I can't decide if I want to quit the pill or switch to another one.
July 17, 2013
Product used: Yasmin (Oral Contraceptive)
Maybe not...
Pros:
nothing
Cons:
Really didnt do anything positive for me
headaches/stomach pains
mood swings/depression/anxiety/chest pains/racing heart rate
Took this Birthcontrol for probably close to 2 years. I would say it reduced my acne to some degree, but nothing that I was ever super impressed with. I stopped taking this birth control though. It actually made me quite sick. Severe mood sings, horrible chest pains, continuous head aches etc.... All of which went away after stopping this medication. I also gained weight on this.
July 9, 2013
Horrible hormonal acne.
Pros:
absolutely none.
Cons:
severe depressive mood swings
horrible horrible cystic acne
lowered sex drive
I began taking Ortho-tricyclen when I was 18 years old to prevent and combat any acne I had. i had very mild acne, usually on my forehead and around my chin and was wondering if birth control would help to prevent any more breakouts. However, 4 months into Orthotri, I started to develop cystic acne on my chin. Thinking maybe my body needed to adjust to this pill, I decided to stay on it for a year. Biggest mistake. Now I am left with horrible acne scars on my chin (about 8-9 dark spots) and more acne around the time of my period. Please do not take this pill. I greatly regret it and am desperately searching for a product that will help to prevent any more chin acne.
Pros:
Works for a whole