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Contraceptives: what types are there and what effect they have on your body
Brigade women
Oral contraceptives, known as the pill, are the most common, but we can find countless of them, with and without hormonal load
Each filtering bag contraceptives they are the daily life of many women, but they still look at each other with a little distance. Either because traditionally they have had many side effects, or you have this preconceived idea that they are going to ‘put hormones’ in the body without rhyme or reason, many women still have reluctance when it comes to using them.
The most common is the well-known pill. This is not only taken to prevent conception, but is often prescribed by the doctor to help improve other pathologies. «The pill improves period pain, premenstrual syndrome, acne, decreases the duration and menstrual flow and, in addition, has been shown to protect against ovarian cancer,
of endometrium, colon, or improve anemia due to lack of iron in women with heavy periods “, lists Lorena Serrano, gynecologist at the Catalan Health Institute.
If we talk about the pill we are referring to a type of hormonal contraceptive, but not all of them are. «Many women seek alternatives to hormonal contraceptives because they have fear of how hormones can affect your body. A fear that, unfortunately, is sometimes based on misinformation or erroneous and biased information that circulates on social networks, “warns the gynecologist. For this reason, she comments that many women are increasingly interested in non-hormonal contraceptive methods, such as the copper IUD, a long-lasting reversible method. “The copper IUD can also have its contraindications, such as heavy menstrual bleeding or longer and more painful periods,” says the professional.
Do contraceptives make you fat?
One of the biggest fears when starting to take the pill is that of gaining weight, something that women have been warning each other for years. Lorena Serrano assures that it has been shown that contraceptives do not affect the level of fat in the body“Yes, they can increase fluid retention, especially the first few months, and that is why it can give the sensation of weight gain,” he indicates and adds that this does not happen with all contraceptives. “Some have a type of progesterone called drospirenone, which is a molecule similar to diuretics and does not give as much retention,” he says.
On the other hand, within hormonal contraceptives, there are other options beyond the pill, such as the ring, the patch or the implant, methods that, says Lorena Serrano, have gained popularity because women seek methods that do not require taking a daily pill and, therefore, they are more comfortable to use. “As for which ones are the most recommended, the final decision really depends on each woman and her needs. But what is a great advantage of these ‘new contraceptives’ is the comfort, since they do not force you to take a daily intake of a pill “, says the doctor.
El length of time contraceptives are usually taken It is very variable. There are those who take them for only a few months and those who are with them for years. “In the case of therapeutic treatments, for example in endometriosis, the ideal is to always take them and only leave them when seeking pregnancy”, indicates Lorena Serrano, who assures that, depending on the therapeutic indication -in some cases- and the Will of the best for the control of fertility -in others-, it is determined how long they are taken.
How Contraceptives Affect My Skin
In general, all contraceptive methods that have a systemic absorption will be able to impact the skin. Ana Molina, a dermatologist at Fundación Jiménez Díaz and professor of dermatology at the Autonomous University of Madrid, says that this includes oral contraceptives, but also patches, implants, the hormonal IUD and even the vaginal ring. «It is true that the Systemic absorption of all these contraceptives varies depending on their presentation and it is not the same in all cases, but in most of them, those hormones present in their composition will end up reaching the bloodstream and will have a greater or lesser impact on many organs of our body, such as the skin, “he explains.
When starting hormonal treatment with an oral contraceptive, for example, the dermatologist warns that a ‘rebound’ effect can occur in the form of worsening acne, which is usually controlled in a maximum of 90 days. Still, these methods are often intended to improve acne. Acne is closely related to hormones, especially androgens (hormones called ‘male’, but also produced to a lesser extent by women). “Contraceptives, especially those that include an antiandrogenic component in their composition, are those that help control the effect of these hormones,” says the professional.
In addition to the appearance of acne, Ana Molina points out that one of the most feared effects of hormonal contraceptives is its association with the appearance of melasma facial: spots similar to those that appear during pregnancy, which usually affect the cheeks, forehead and upper lip. “When it appears in pregnancy it is called ‘chloasma’ and ‘melasma’ when it appears in fertile women, generally associated with taking contraceptives, although it can also appear in the absence of these,” he says.
It is also important to know that it is not medically necessary to take contraceptive breaks. “At most, the breaks serve to ensure that the woman is not pregnant, with the bleeding that occurs in the breaks,” says the gynecologist, who says that when the pill was created it was thought that these breaks and the bleeding produced, would make women see contraceptives as something more ‘natural’, instead of eliminating menstruation completely without not interrupting the intake.
Stop taking birth control
When a woman stops taking or using contraceptives, a priori they do not suffer contraindications. «If the intake was motivated by having a painful period, or very little regular, when we stop taking them we will return to the same symptoms and patterns than before; Leaving them does not imply having new effects, but rather returning to the previous ones, ”says the professional.
He also says that there are women who report that, when they stop using contraceptives, they again suffer the problems that were treated with more force. “This is subjective, since the fact of having been controlling these symptoms for so long can cause them to ‘not remember’ what they were like, and when they suffer them again they have the feeling that they have worsened when they are not,” he concludes.