How do I know if its HS?

Hi there. I have been suffering from incredible painful absesses in my outer ear canal for the last year. From the age of about 14 I had the same painful pea-sized lumps in my groin and underarms, I would either pop them or wait until they went away. Sometimes it felt like the lump is in one place but pus and blood end up coming out a cm or so away from the main cyst.

I'm 25 now and in the last year I've had some recurring at the top of my bum crack and groin which are small and not too painful, almost like ingrown hairs but with a lot more pus/blood than expected, but mostly in my outer ears about once every 4-6 weeks either during or before my period and its excruciating.

My doctor has put me on all kinds of antibiotics, antifungal/steroids/antibiotic drops. He believes that it's chronic otitis externa. I havn't changed doctors as I need to have several visits with the same recurring problem in order to get on the public waitlist to see a dermatologist/ENT specialist although that may be a year or 2 of waiting.

The reason I'm looking for a second opinion is that HS is hereditary and my mother suffers from several other autoimmune diseases (alopecia and polymyalgia), she also suffered from abscesses in her underarms as a teenager and regularly had to have them drained by a nurse. It can also flare up with hormone changes so the frequency of my flareups and their coincidence with my period could be relevant.

Any help/ advice would be greatly appreciated, I am in a lot if pain, even codine isnt taking the edge off. Has anyone else experienced HS in their middle ear (not lobe or external but definitely on the skin as opposed to deeper and affecting the ear drum?

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