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Navigate: FAQ Home Page > Drugs, Specific > Risk of clots
Posted on: 01/25/2010
Question
If three common methods of birth control (pill, patch and ring) have similar doses of estrogen in them, why is the risk for blood clots higher in the patch and ring?
Answer
The risk of clotting is only higher with the patch. With the ring, it is the same as with pills. They have looked at a number of different reasons (drug levels, clotting factor levels) and have not been able to identify why this is true.