Perfecting Periods: Some Women Skip Out with Hormonal Birth Control

Every woman knows that periods can be painful and exhausting. Fortunately, for many young women, hormonal birth control can help them skip the process, all together.

Researchers from the University of Oregon surveyed 1,324 women, both undergraduate and graduate students, who reported using hormonal contraceptives within the last six months. Hormonal methods can include the oral pill as well as patches and vaginal rings.

Seventeen percent of these women said they'd altered their bleeding pattern by skipping over placebo weeks in their pill packs or applying a new patch or ring as soon as the old one was finished, without taking a week off. As hormonal birth control causes ovulation to cease, the week-long bleeding experienced every month is not a true period that can be caused by built-up uterine lining that sloughs off. Rather, it is withdrawal bleeding caused by the removal of the hormones.

Some of these pills are designed to lengthen the cyle between bleeding periods, while others allow women to have one period every three months or every year. 

Of women who delayed or skipped a period, half said they did so for convenience or for scheduling purposes - to avoid bleeding during a particular time of the month. About 30 percent said it was a personal preference, and 16.7 percent said they wanted to avoidmenstrual symptoms.

"These findings emphasize the need for health-care providers to carefully interview combined hormonal contraceptive users on how they are using their method - for example, many women may be skipping pills to extend their cycles," study researcher Christopher Minson, a human physiology professor at the University of Oregon, said in a statement. "With a greater understanding of the issues, health-care providers may be able to more effectively engage in conversations with college-aged women and educate them about available options."

Provider education might be important, given that 53 percent of women who'd skipped a period reported doing so on the advice of friends, family or other nonmedical sources. Downsides to delaying or skipping a period include breakthrough bleeding, or bleeding that occurs between periods. Women who skip the bleeding period may also be less likely to be able to tell if they've gotten pregnant despite their birth control.