Is Increased Facial Asymmetry Associated With The Use Of Hormonal Contraceptive Among Polish Young Women In Wroclaw?

Fluctuating asymmetry (FA) is the small random deviations from a perfect bilateral symmetry in a morphological trait. It is considered as an indicator of biological quality and developmental stability of individual. Adverse environmental conditions and high levels of sex steroids may increase FA. Symmetry in women was found to be related with phases of the menstrual cycles (MC). This cross sectional study aimed to compare facial symmetry between women using and not using hormonal contraceptives with reference to the phases of their fertile and non-fertile phases of MC. Participants were 150 young adult Polish female students in Wrocław, Poland. Facial photograph of each woman was taken and information on the use of hormonal contraception, date of menarche, number of days past since the last menstruation (beginning of bleeding) were collected. Measurements of facial asymmetry were taken digitally in pixels on facial photographs by using ImageJ software. The results revealed that the women who used HC had a significantly higher total and central facial FA than those who did not use HC. However, the women in relatively non fertile phase did not demonstrate a difference in FA among the non-users of HC.