The Skin Specialist Blog

“I came off the pill… and now my skin is worse than ever.” If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Acne after stopping birth control is one of the most common concerns I see in clinic.

If you’ve ever felt like acne medication worked for a while and then slowly stopped making a difference, you’re not imagining it. I hear this story all the time in clinic. Someone is prescribed antibiotics, a topical treatment like Tretinoin, the pill, or a combination of all three. Their skin improves for a few months. There’s a sense of relief as it seems like something is finally helping! So it’s extra heartbreaking when the breakouts creep back in. 

By the time January comes around, most people are absolutely knackered after Christmas, NYE and the general pressure of “New year new me”! The nervous system has been running on adrenaline for weeks, sleep hasn’t been great, and the body hasn’t had much chance to reset. From a skin point of view, it’s a recipe for disaster.

At The Skin Specialist in Lanarkshire, I work with clients every day whose acne didn’t truly improve until we addressed stress, cortisol levels, and nervous system dysregulation.