Research shows that if given the choice, most women would prefer extended menstrual cycles. The most common medical reasons that women give include headaches, cramping, painful periods, heavy bleeding, and PMS. The Ortho Evra Patch is a weekly form of hormonal birth control. It is a discreet and reversible type of prescription contraception. Some women are concerned about the safety of skipping periods. Research has consistently shown that it is common and completely safe to do.
Plus, the practice doesn't compromise the effectiveness of your birth control pills. One thing to keep in mind, some insurance companies will not allow you to pick up a prescription early, so make sure to check this out ahead of time if you are planning to skip your period and need to purchase additional patches.
Sign up for our Health Tip of the Day newsletter, and receive daily tips that will help you live your healthiest life. Hillard PA. Menstrual suppression: current perspectives. Int J Womens Health.
Your Privacy Rights. The Ortho Evra Patch consists of patches that you place on your skin for 7 days for three consecutive weeks each month. In the fourth week, you do not need to put on a patch, and during this time you will usually get your period. This is similar to many types of combination birth control pills , with the exception that you take pills for 21 days and possibly a placebo for the last 7 days instead of applying a patch each week for those 21 days.
The patch can be worn on one of four different areas of the body including your:. It does not matter which of these locations you use, but a woman should wear the patch on a different area of her body each week.
You may choose the location to place your patch based on your wardrobe choices and what feels best to you. The Ortho Evra patch is designed to continuously release a steady flow of synthetic estrogen ethinyl estradiol and a type of progestin norelgestromin through the skin and into the bloodstream to protect against pregnancy for 7 days which is why a woman must replace it after each week.
The Ortho Evra patch contains the same types of hormones found in the pill. There are several advantages of using the Ortho Evra patch relative to the other forms of birth control.
These include:. We now know that there are several non-contraceptive benefits of combination birth control pills , and this likely holds true for the Ortho Evra patch as well. Some of these additional benefits may include protection against:.
Compared with other forms of birth control, the patch may result in:. There is a low incidence of side effects for women who choose to use the Ortho Evra patch, but it is important to be familiar with these before starting treatment. Fortunately, many of these side effects will improve or disappear after you have been using the patch for two to three months.
Possible side effects include:. Women who use the birth control patch are exposed to around 60 percent more estrogen than those who take a typical birth control pill. This increased estrogen exposure may increase the risk of side effects for those using the patch. Related to this increased estrogen level, the risk of blood clots in the legs and the subsequent risk of pulmonary embolism that can occur when clots break off and travel to the lungs may be higher with the patch compared with a typical birth control pill containing 35 mcg of estrogen.
The risk of blood clots is about twice as high on the patch as with a typical birth control pill, but the overall risk of blood clots is relatively low with either method.
There is also a slightly higher risk of breast tenderness on the patch relative to that on the birth control pill. The Ortho Evra patch is a safe method of birth control for many women, though there are times when a different form of birth control is preferred. The patch is not recommended for women who:. In many communities, Medicaid covers the cost of this contraceptive method.
A woman should check with her private health insurance policy as coverage for birth control varies. The Ortho Evra Patch is 92 percent to This means that with perfect use, less than 1 out of every women who use the patch will become pregnant. With typical use, 8 out of every women who use the patch will become pregnant.
Certain medications can decrease the effectiveness of birth control pills or patches. This includes drugs such as commonly used antibiotics so it's important to talk to your healthcare provider about any medications you are taking as well as any new medications which you may be prescribed after starting the patch. The patch might be less effective for overweight women those who weigh more than pounds. The effectiveness of the Ortho Evra Patch can also be lowered due to user error.
A woman may be more at risk for pregnancy if:. The patch releases a daily dose of hormones through the skin into the bloodstream to prevent pregnancy. It contains the same hormones as the combined pill — oestrogen and progestogen — and works in the same way by preventing the release of an egg each month ovulation.
It also thickens cervical mucus, which makes it more difficult for sperm to move through the cervix, and thins the womb lining so a fertilised egg is less likely to be able to implant itself. Apply your first patch and wear it for 7 days. On day 8, change the patch to a new one. Change it like this every week for 3 weeks, and then have a patch-free week.
During your patch-free week you'll get a withdrawal bleed, like a period, although this may not always happen. After 7 patch-free days, apply a new patch and start the 4-week cycle again. Start your new cycle even if you're still bleeding. Stick the patch directly onto your skin. You can put it onto most areas of your body, as long as the skin is clean, dry and not very hairy. You shouldn't stick the patch onto:.
It's a good idea to change the position of each new patch to help reduce the chance of skin irritation. If you start using the patch on the first day of your period, and up to and including the fifth day of your period, you'll be protected from pregnancy straight away.
If you start using it on any other day, you need to use an additional form of contraception, such as condoms , for the first 7 days. If you have a short menstrual cycle with your period coming every 23 days or less, starting the patch on the fifth day of your period or later means you may not be protected against pregnancy and will also need additional contraception for the first 7 days.
You can talk to a GP or nurse about when the patch will start to work, and whether you need to use additional contraception in the meantime. The contraceptive patch is very sticky and should stay on. It shouldn't come off after a shower, bath, hot tub, sauna or swim. If the patch does fall off, what you need to do depends on how long it has been off.
If it's been off for 48 hours or more, or you're not sure how long:. If you forget to take a patch off, what you should do depends on how many extra hours it has been left on. If you remove it before going over 48 hours it's been on for 8 or 9 days in total :. If a patch has been on for an extra 48 hours or longer it's been on for 10 days or more :. If you forget to take the patch off after week 3, take it off as soon as possible.
Start your patch-free break and start a new patch on your usual start day, even if you're bleeding. This means you won't have a full week of patch-free days. You'll be protected against pregnancy and won't need to use any additional contraception. You may or may not bleed on the patch-free days. Put on a new patch as soon as you remember. This is the beginning of your new patch cycle.
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