• Relief of menstrual cramps. Girls with severe cramps often get relief of their monthly pain from taking the Pill. This benefit may not be noticeable until a few months of treatment. While some girls get total pain relief, some still require nonsteroidal pain medications like ibuprofen or naproxen. It's very unusual to continue to miss school or work, or to find the pain or accompanying nausea or diarrhea severe, after a few months of consistently combining these two treatments.
  
  Persistent menstrual pain that leaves a girl unable to function warrants another trip to the doctor.



• Treatment of acne. While many brands of oral contraceptives improve acne, one company, Ortho, did its own research on its Ortho TriCyclen pill and submitted the results to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which allows them to advertise this benefit. Many dermatologists now prescribe the Pill solely for this reason.



• Decreasing excess body and facial hair. Hirsutism, the condition where a female has excessive facial or abdominal hair, is quite common. It can be caused by too much testosterone, as in the condition polycystic ovarian syndrome, or can be the result of an increased sensitivity of the hair follicles to normal female testosterone levels. Whatever the cause, birth control pills lower the amount of effective testosterone and start to reduce facial- and/or body-hair growth after about six months of use.
  
  Unfortunately, once the little fuzzy hairs become thicker and coarser, the problem will not reverse completely. After six months of taking oral contraceptives, it helps to also use a permanent hair removal treatment, such as electrolysis. The Pill will then prevent new hairs from turning coarse.



• Lighter menstrual flow. Some girls have heavy periods because of a hormonal imbalance, but others' are heavy for no particular reason or because there is a problem with the blood's ability to clot. The Pill makes the uterine lining thin and diminishes the flow for almost all causes of excessively heavy periods.
  
  In cases where the blood won't clot--for example, among people with severe blood disorders or those who are on high-dose chemotherapy for cancer--the Pill can sometimes be taken for months at a time without a break, which prevents menstruation.



• More regular menstrual cycles. Irregular or absent menstruation (amenorrhea) almost always signifies a hormonal imbalance. In these situations, the hormone state itself can be unhealthy. Irregular or absent menstruation can be associated with either normal estrogen, with low progesterone, or low levels of both estrogen and progesterone. Low estrogen levels, as seen in underweight athletes, increases the risk of brittle bones (osteoporosis) later in life and can lead to sexual difficulties (such as vaginal dryness during intercourse). The Pill gives the girl the hormones her body needs, thereby offsetting these risks.
  
  When estrogen levels are normal but progesterone is missing, anovulation (which includes the possibility of polycystic ovarian syndrome) is the cause. This hormone state allows estrogen to constantly stimulate the uterus, which can lead to a buildup of the uterine lining and subsequent hemorrhage, and over many years can ultimately cause uterine cancer.
  
  The Pill is one of the available treatments that can provide regular, light to moderate menstrual flow, to prevent the long-term consequences of anovulation. For girls with anovulation who also have excessive facial hair and acne, birth control pills can measurably improve their quality of life.

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