Did Going Off Birth Control Affect Your Skin & Hair? Here’s Why & What To do

Certain subsets of hormonal birth control can improve hormonal acne while on it. “Combined hormonal contraceptives are birth control methods that contain estrogen and progestin,” says King, noting these are often found in forms such as the pill, patch, or ring. “Birth control pills that contain these two hormones are often helpful for hormonal acne because the estrogen they contain can suppress the ovaries’ production of androgens and increase a protein called sex-hormone binding globulin in the blood. This protein binds free testosterone in the bloodstream, so then less testosterone is available to cause sebum production and acne.”

See, sex hormones have several notable influences in our skin. As King noted, estrogen decreases sebum production (and increases collagen and elastin production), while testosterone increases sebum production. If you’re genetically predisposed to acne, any increase in sebum production can cause breakouts. 

So, when you go off these forms of birth control, the hormonal acne you are experiencing is simply your skin responding to the lack of estrogen from birth control, as well as the resurgence of testosterone. 

“When you stop taking oral contraceptive pills you lose any benefit for acne they were providing, and acne may consequently worsen. Also, for several months after discontinuing OCP, hormone levels go through an adjustment phase, and acne may particularly flare during this window,” says King.