23/07/2023
POST-PILL ACNE
The oral contraceptive pill is often touted as a cure-all for feminine maladies, offered as a solution to painful periods, heavy bleeding, irregular cycles and acne. Yet, all too often, I find myself treating women in their 20s and 30s for severe acne that burst into existence only AFTER they took the pill and then ceased it after a time.
Firstly, the pill CANNOT balance hormones. It is designed to imbalance them to such an extreme that one of your body's main purposes - reproduction - becomes impossible. It continues to astonish me how many health professionals will say that the absence of ovulation and inability to fall pregnant somehow equate to balanced hormones. Putting a pretend hormone in your body and suppressing your body's natural production of real hormones might change your signs and symptoms, but it is not at all the same as having balanced hormones.
While on the pill, are supplying your body with an external source of synthetic progesterone and in some cases, oestrogen. While they are not identical to natural hormones, your body still recognises them as replacements, and your natural feedback mechanisms respond by reducing their production of these hormones.
Stopping the pill can cause a short-term drop in oestrogen and progesterone levels because your body was so used to not having to make them. These low levels cause a rebound surge of androgens (‘male’ hormones like testosterone) because the presence of progesterone normally would lower the internal production of testosterone. The pill also suppresses sebum production, but your body fights back and tries to upregulate it, so when you stop this can result in you producing too much - leading to rebound pimples and oily hair.
If you are experiencing post-pill acne or looking to stop the pill, there are amazing herbs and nutrients we can use to give your body what it needs to recalibrate its natural hormone balance and minimise any breakouts.
