HS in pregnancy

Hi Lauren, your doctor is correct, plastic surgery is the only way to get rid of it for good. I had mine 12yrs ago and have not had any flare ups since. i had tried every other method none of which worked. Hope all goes well for you.

Hey. Girly I have had HS for about 13 years now. I am also pregnant. It is common for flares to lessen during pregnancy. Mine did for 2 however with this pregnancy they have been horrible. In my experience with the first 2 pregnancy the flares will get really bad after. I am going to suggest you see a dermatologist. There are some out there that know a lot about this disease. I have met with surgeons the recovery time quoted was 6 months and the surgery was not guaranteed because HS tunnels. I have had one less invasive surgery where the affected area and a large section around it was removed. Unfortunately I ended up with a new tunnel and outbreak 4 yrs later. This time the skin is so much more sensitive. Some people are able to control there outbreaks with meds and diets. I have heard amazing outcomes with Humira. Although it was not for me. I am here if you need to talk or have questions.

Hi lauren,

I wonder if your pregnancy reduced the HS because being pregnant lowers your immune system?

Anyway, below is my hs history. skip to the last paragraph to get to the advice part.

I've had HS under my arms for about 20 years now. After about a 10 year remission (still don't know what casued it), it came back about 4 years ago. Since then, I've had really big bumps, sores that never healed (basically I had to put bandages under my arms every morning before work). I think this is described as between stage 2 and 3. I went to a dermotologist and he gave me long-term antibiotice (minocycline). That stopped working after a year. Since then I've been on Humira, which reduced the bumbs to pretty much what you described since being pregnant. Unfortuntely, the open sores didn't stay closed.

Last October, I had surgery under both arms by a platic surgeon. It was pretty painful. In severe cases, the surgeon leaves the skin open to heal. This takes longer but is more effective. My surgeon thought it would be OK to close up the wounds. After a couple of weeks that the stiches came out, the HS came back. Maybe because the skin was still weak, but the sores opened and emptied out fairy quickly. I started taking minocycline along with the humira plus I stopped eating nightshades (tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, etc.). That did the trick. I didn't have any outbreaks at all. I stopped taking the antibiotics, a month ago, and small bumps started appearing, but they were like pimples and never got to anything serious. My old wonds are still closed. Still on humira and trying not to eat any nightshades, and it seems to be working for now.

While it's true that there's only so much a dermatologist can do, one experienced in HS might best be able to determine if its the best time for surgery, or if other treatments should be tried-- long term antibiotics, Humira, laser treatments, and so on. From what I've read, surgery should only be done when you have persistent, open sores. Because surgery isn't going to prevent new bumps, it's just going to remove damaged tissue. If you don't have any open sores, I'd really recomend talking to a dermatologist experienced with HS. I'm not a doctor, but I do know it can't hurt to get another experienced opinion.