This is why I find it challenging to write about skin and hair changes within the context of hormonal birth control. What one person experiences will not hold true for the rest: There are simply too many variables. However, there are valid reasons people may experience either of these according to dermatologists. But, again, derms also note that this is a tricky area in which no one’s experience is the same as the rest. “It’s complicated because hormonal birth control comes in many forms and contains different types and levels of hormones. And even the same formulation may affect different people differently,” says board-certified dermatologist Hadley King, M.D. See, sex hormones have several notable influences on 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. But of course, there are several ways you can tend to the acne that you are experiencing at this moment: “One kind of hair loss that can be experienced after stopping OCP is telogen effluvium. Telogen effluvium is a kind of hair loss that takes place after a person undergoes a stress to the body or mind,” says King, noting that this can range from physical injury, personal problems, and, yes, hormonal changes. “Abrupt hormonal change—like after childbirth or stopping an oral contraceptive—is one form of physical stress.” The good news is that this form of hair loss is temporary, too. “Hairs are usually found in all different stages of the hair cycle, but after this stress, a larger percentage of hairs than usual become synchronized, and so when it is time for them to fall out, many more hairs than normal fall out,” she says. “This happens usually approximately two to four months after the stress. The good news is that this kind of hair loss is reversible—it does grow back!” From there, you can look to hair-growth practices in the meantime:
