A question about treating adolescent acne with birth control pills.

[CTyankee]

My 16 year old granddaughter has been prescribed birth control pills after everything else she has tried to control her acne has failed. Does anyone know the success rate of these pills on girls her age?

The pills have been prescribed by her dermatologist but her pediatrician has also recommended them.

[elleng]

1. Don't know, and daughters unavailable for me to check now.

Discuss w ob/gyn for other than derma issues?
:hi:

[CTyankee]

5. It seems to be something her pediatrician can handle right now.

It will also help with her cramps, too, which is another good reason for her to take them...

[elleng]

12. Yes, daughters took for cramps.

[Locrian]

2. have not heard of that...

Might want to look at cutting wheat from her diet:

http://cravingsugar.net/wheat-belly-book-review-william-davis-gluten-intolerance-diet.php

Seriously, wheat is a big factor in inflammation, acne, etc.

[CTyankee]

7. I know that dairy has been the culprit for non-adolescent acne cases

but this appears to be hormonal. It would be hard to control her intake of wheat products (she is in boarding school).

[MADem]

3. That's been a common treatment for decades.

I knew young ladies who were taking BC for that express purpose back in the early seventies.

It must work, otherwise someone would have hoisted the BS flag by now!

[CTyankee]

6. I know that bc pills have been prescribed in the past. I was just wondering

if the treatment has improved, since birth control pills have evolved since the 70s.

[Karia]

14. I've heard that docs are going back recommending to BC pills

Because other newer acne treatments have been linked to colitis, Chron's, and tooth & bone problems.

[MADem]

17. Oh yeah--those famous ACCUTANE commercials--call your lawyer today! nt

[Riley18]

4. A friend of mine has been taking them for acne for about three years,

and has had some relief from acne, but she still suffers breakouts. The pill is supposed to regulate hormones.

[CTyankee]

8. You would think that a cure for acne would have been found by now.

Some magic pill. I can't understand why this hasn't happened. Whoever discovers it would stand to make a fortune...

[Warpy]

11. It has, actually, the treatment is hormonal

because acne is caused by an imbalance between estrogen and androgens, both produced in large quantity as the endocrine system begins to mature.

Some people have outbreaks well into their 20s and 30s; for them, acne requires heavier drugs like Retin-A.

Other things that can help are throwing out all exfoliation treatments from washcloths to those special face scrubbers: those irritate the skin and make outbreaks more likely to be infected outbreaks. Washing with the hands, soap and water is the best bet, patting dry instead of rubbing.

While there's a minor correlation with a high glycemic diet, most dietary "causes" are old wives tales and have been solidly disproven.

[CTyankee]

13. how long does it usually take to see improvement?

[Warpy]

16. There's not a rigid timeline because improvement is slow

which is why I suggested what I did about washing.

Some improvement is seen within the first month and it continues to improve.

[CTyankee]

18. Thanks. My granddaughter is SO upset. I can't stand to see her so sad...

[Warpy]

19. Puberty is awful. Just when you've got the kid thing figured out

your body starts to sprout a bunch of ugly hair and your face turns into a pizza. Girls start to bleed and boys have their own torments of spontaneous erections (usually halfway to the blackboard) and voice changes.

I wouldn't want to go through it again for anything.

[murielm99]

9. This is a very common practice.

It works for many people.

It worked for me and for my oldest daughter.

[CTyankee]

10. How long did it take for it to control your daughter's acne?

And did it initially make it worse?

[murielm99]

21. It did not get worse initially.

I understand that it does, sometimes. It took a few months before we noticed the difference. I can't remember. I just remember that she was pleased with the results.

[gkhouston]

15. My niece (who also has PCOS) did this. It made a huge difference

for her, but yes, her acne was worse the first month or two.

[applegrove]

20. Whatever you do make sure your daughter is not smoking. No smoking at all. That and birth control

pills can cause strokes in young women.

[phylny]

22. Our youngest daughter has had them (and many, many other things)

prescribed for her cystic acne. To be honest, for her it doesn't work. The only thing that worked was Accutane. She had minimal problems with it, and it's been used for years. Unfortunately, she needs another round, and the dermatologist wants her to start back with antibiotics, which don't really help her. But, it's a necessary step to go through to get back to Accutane, so she's doing it.

Good luck to your granddaughter. I know from our daughter that it's frustrating!

[Hassin Bin Sober]

24. Yeah, I had cystic acne as a kid (high school) and the only thing that ever healed it was accutane.

Fortunately for me, it was on my back/shoulders so my face wasn't scared. But I went through high school/college embarrassed to remove my shirt in public. My brother had the same problem.

To this day, when I see a kid with severe acne I want to tell them to take accutane so they won't have to go through what I did. But there is so much negatives in the press about accutane I don't know what to believe. I had no long lasting side effects. The effects while on the medicine were high sensitivity to sun burn (normal like with the anti-biotic) and some muscle soreness (expected) but that was probably from heavy exercising - which I wasn't supposed to do but did anyway.

[CanSocDem]

23. Not to quibble, but......

...here's how the placebo effect would work.

There is no denying the reality of adolescent acne. Observing that its' onset usually accompanies physical and social growth spurts, most clear-thinking people see the connection.

The psychological pressure of becoming an adult, while still sitting in a school desk, is a 'growth spurt' fraught with difficulty, as most of us know. Giving a teenage girl birth control pills would create a psychological self-confidence that would regulate the still maturing physical expressions such as acne.

As always, whatever works!

.

[Sgent]

25. Some stats

At least this one BC Pill reduces the incidence / severity of acne by 40-50%.

See page 18

http://berlex.bayerhealthcare.com/html/products/pi/fhc/Beyaz_PI.pdf