Can birth control pills block testosterone? This one comes up a lot, and I think it’s worth breaking down.
Most women don’t even realize we have testosterone at all — we think of it as a “male hormone.” But we actually get a testosterone surge when we ovulate. The goal? Nature wants us to procreate when an egg has been released.
So here’s what birth control pills actually do →
They don’t block testosterone exactly — they lower it. And it comes down to estrogen. Combined oral contraceptives raise your estrogen levels, and that has a ripple effect:
→ Estrogen raises sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG), which binds up testosterone→ Elevated estrogen also suppresses the ovaries from producing more androgen
So yes, the pill can lower your androgens — and we actually use this to our advantage when prescribing certain oral contraceptives for things like acne and hirsutism.
Watch/Listen to the latest episode of The Skin Real: “Testosterone, Topical Estrogen, and Perimenopause: The Questions You Keep Asking,” out now. #testosterone #birthcontrolpills #hormones #hormonehealth
Most women don’t even realize we have testosterone at all — we think of it as a “male hormone.” But we actually get a testosterone surge when we ovulate. The goal? Nature wants us to procreate when an egg has been released.
So here’s what birth control pills actually do →
They don’t block testosterone exactly — they lower it. And it comes down to estrogen. Combined oral contraceptives raise your estrogen levels, and that has a ripple effect:
→ Estrogen raises sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG), which binds up testosterone→ Elevated estrogen also suppresses the ovaries from producing more androgen
So yes, the pill can lower your androgens — and we actually use this to our advantage when prescribing certain oral contraceptives for things like acne and hirsutism.
Watch/Listen to the latest episode of The Skin Real: “Testosterone, Topical Estrogen, and Perimenopause: The Questions You Keep Asking,” out now. #testosterone #birthcontrolpills #hormones #hormonehealth