Diagnosed on Friday....

Hi I am sorry you are suffering with this.  You need to see a dermatologist for a proper diagnosis and expert treatment.  It does sound like HS though. There are quite a few options such as rouccatine (or something like this) which you can take which is also used for severe acne.  You can also have surgery to remove ones which recur again and again.  I have had a few incised this way and so far none of these have come up again.  It is done by a surgeon under a local anaesthetic.

Doctors don't know much about them and just tend to prescribe ab's which do help but occasionally a big one needs to be cut out under a general anaesthetic.  Having a fever and feeling ill is very common because you have got an infection.  

You need to take them seriously because an infection can lead (usually to people with other illnesses or with a suppressed immune system) to septacemia.  

I get them on my inner thighs and the advice I have been given is not to wear trousers (unless you are a fella) but skirts to avoid them rubbing.  But If you wear a skirt they still rub against your other leg so it's hobsons choice really.  I have in the past put a bandage or a Mepore plaster over them but because they can grow so quickly this can be painful too as it will pull at the plaster.   I don't have any real answers I'm afraid except be vigilant and get infected ones treated with ab's straightaway.  Hope this helps a bit.  x

Thank you so much for your reply. I know I should ask for a referral and I will do. I'm just coming to terms with it I think. thank you for your answer. What's your cycle of hs? Anything particular agitate them?

Stress,  stress and stress seems to be my main trigger.  Also when I am run down even with a cold or chest infection.   Everyone is individual though so it might be different with you.

Two things which might help you - one is a daily antibiotic (it didn't help me) and other which does help on the smaller ones at least is a cream called dalycin available from your doctor.  I have found the only things that help the bigger ones is seeking medical help.  Hope this helps.  x

 

Do see a dermatologist, like yours mine would either burst or i had to have them incised but all that does is create sinuses and they fill up and connect like tunnels under the skin, i had major surgery on both armpits both removed completely and skin grafts to make new ones, then i started in my groin bum and scalp over the years. i didn't realise with the major surgery didn't guarantee they wouldn't come back the plastic surgeon told me i was lucky!!! if i had known then what i know now i would have insisted on seeing a dermatologist. even the surgeons told me it was stress that caused them, i think once you have them you have them in some form or other for life but i am now on permanent antibiotics and they don't really cause me much problem anymore they are much more manageable. if the scar you have is sore it may be that there is an infection underneath that can't get out as the scar tissue is too tough, my armpits ended up being so scarred that i couldn't lift my arms up as there was no movement in the skin. DO NOT LET YOURS GET LIKE THAT I didn't have anyone i knew to give me advice so just went on the waiting list and in the meantime it just got worse. Let me know what your scar is like, hopefully it is fairly small and if that is the case insist to your gp you want to see a plastic surgeon just to have that small are removed before it becomes a great big area. keep your chin up hope all goes well

regards

marian

UPDATE: ok, so I completed my two months anti b and turmeric. I have also lost over two stone, size 22 and now a 16 in last 7 weeks. Turmeric is apparently helping. I am in "remission" and have not had a new one, or an old one flare up for three weeks! Stress is lower, turmeric, anti b, weight loss, excercise and Vit e&d, I avoid nightshade veg mostly but not completely. I am not sure if it is due to this or if it's luck! I am hopeful for a continuous remission, but will see what happens. Thanks for your guidance guys! Xx

Nightshade vegetables aggravate mine. HS is an autoimmune condition and nightshades can make autoimmune conditions worse.   I have started avoiding nightshades and am now in remission! If I accidentally eat a nightshade, I will have a cyst flare up. Eating out is rare.  I have to watch every ingredient! I've had HS for years and was in stage 4. I've tried everything.  Finding a forum on here about nightshades was my miracle from God!

Good luck!