Chinese medicine helped me

I was of the belief that HS is incurable also.  So here’s my story of how I managed to get rid of HS.  

The reason I hadn’t posted this before is that I only stumbled upon this forum a day ago.

When I contracted HS in 2007, my local doctor gave me medication which temporarily removed my symptoms - the boil-like outbreak, in my armpits. But they just seemed to pop up elsewhere.  He then suggested surgically removing a couple of them as the way to go.  I don't like surgery, no matter how small, so you will know how I felt when they recurred right next to the scar.  While I was working in Hong Kong later that year, some colleagues were adamant that Chinese medicine could cure this.  Those with HS will understand me when I say that I was willing to give anything a go.  So over a number of weeks I had to boil up a rather bizarre concoction, whilst directed to stop eating prawns and chilli.  But the HS persisted, with the hot and sweaty climate making the symptoms worse.  So I became resigned that there really wasn't a cure and I would have to live with this continual discomfort, though the perpetual lack of sleep was driving me around the bend.

A year or so later after returning home, a work colleague referred me to a Chinese doctor, to which I replied that I had tried that without success.  However, she urged me to give this doctor a go as she had had great success with a different skin condition affecting her daughter.   So in the end I relented.

I made weekly visits for acupuncture, and went away with small sachets of herbs.  I had to combine the contents of each herb sachet with a little hot water and drink when cooled, 3 times a day.  But most importantly, I had to eliminate quite a number of foods from my diet.  At first it was mango, pineapple, chilli & spicy foods, but was quickly extended to the following:

all sea food/fish (fresh water fish was okay), all red meat (I could have pork provided it was female - to that point I didn't realise that there was a difference. If you can smell it while it is cooking then it is most likely male – I since found that many European butchers do in fact sell female pork), no BBQ or roasted meat, no deep fried foods, nor pepper, garlic, tomatoes, orange juice, beans, dried biscuits & pizza, alcohol or chocolate.  Quite a list.  I had to continue avoiding these foods until every last trace and blemish had disappeared.  It took 3 - 4 months in all, but it did disappear.  On my last visit she instructed me to permanently avoid mango and pineapple.  I was okay with the latter as it has never reacted well with me, unless picked very ripe, but mango was my favourite fruit!  Anyway I did try my hardest to avoid these two fruits, and did so until a couple of months ago.

While travelling recently, I inadvertently had some mango juice, not realising until I had virtually finished the glass.  I thought that I had got away with it, and thought no more of it, but several weeks later, after returning home, I noticed that familiar dull pain in one of my armpits, and sure enough when I looked at my armpit I saw the reddish blemish indicating that HS was re-appearing.

So, determined to nip this in the bud, I zipped off to see the Chinese doctor again, and recommenced her treatment of acupuncture, herbs and avoidance of the abovementioned foods.  A few days later I noticed the first signs of boils starting to develop in the other armpit.  Five weeks later after having again strictly avoided the abovementioned foods (and believe me it is sometimes hard when eating out to find something on a menu which is not fried and without tomatoes). I am happy to report that the HS has cleared up, and once again I can enjoy amongst other things, an occasional steak and glass of red!

Going forward I will continue to avoid mangos and pineapples, and where possible keep chilli consumption to a minimum.  I am thus convinced that diet does play a big part in the HS outbreaks.  I have no idea whether the herbs and acupuncture are also integral to this treatment – I just went with the flow and it worked for me.  But more to the point, perhaps it may work for some of you.  My first foray with Chinese medicine didn’t help in the slightest, so I guess like any profession, there are some more skilled than others.   I would happily recommend this doctor, but that won't help for most of you - I am in Melbourne, Australia - perhaps the other side of the globe for the majority of this discussion group.

However if even one person finds this useful, then posting my story will have been worthwhile.

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