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While doing a little research on it, I came across a posting on an internet forum by a doctor advising people that hydradenitis suppurativa was caused by body oils that became thick and clogged pores which then became boils or carbuncles. (His explanation was better than mine as I am working from memory and it was 15-20 years ago.) He recommended taking Omega 3 oils. I immediately realized that I had been having a remission of the problem for awhile because I had been doing the Atkins diet and taking quite a lot of oil capsules on a daily basis for a year. It had been about 6 months since I stopped taking them because I stopped the diet and the boils had come back to my great dismay.
I immediately started taking them again and the problem was relieved. I have consistently taken oils since then (usually flax seed oils but sometimes fish oils or a combination) and find that as long as I get regular doses, I don't have boils but if I go for too long without it they come back. When I realize that I am starting to get one then I immediately start the oil regimen and they resolve.
I am also prone to Psoriasis or Eczema around my ears and on my scalp. I was not having much luck treating that either but it occurred to me that maybe I was low on oils again so I started taking them and it seemed to clear up. Maybe that was a coincidence but nothing else was working and it had spread all over my scalp and was itching like crazy.
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I dont know whether this was HS but the symptoms seem to sugest it was. If any one seems to get a recuring boil it might be worth a try and would be greatfull for another person reporting back on its efficacy.
The dressing was just clean absorbent toilet tissue, with eclectric tape top and bottom with a strip down the middle to stop the oil coming through onto clothing. Changed every 24 hours.
Multiple Remedies
Multiple Remedies
Multiple Remedies
★★★★☆
I started using turmeric and magnesium yesterday for pain issues. I also take EFA's and have since my 20's. I am currently on an oral antibiotic which was given to me after 2 outbreaks where I turned septic. I had a cyst the size of a grapefruit on my buttocks. It started out the size of a grain of rice at 10pm. By 1pm in the morning I had a fever of 106 and the cyst was the size of a lime. By the time I was able to get into the doctor at about noon I was septic. This happened again a few years later. I also used ACV and zinc, not as helpful for me as other people here at this site. I don't want to add too many thing at once. So for now I see how what I added works. I would like to get off the antibiotics.
Tea Tree Oil
Tea Tree Oil
Dealing with what I think appears to be HS?
Background...Its my first Outbreak and it began 1 week ago. I have 4 sores that look like described text book symptoms of HS under my breast. So painful. Began very suddenly. I am being treated by my GP for what he calls a bacterial infection from a yeast infection. Makes no sense to me? I have a a compromised immune system from drugs (Remicade) for Anklousing Spondilitis (a "Spondyloarthropathy Autoimmune disorder - under the same diseases as Crohns, psoriasis and reactive arthritis). I am a 50 yr old female. I have had AS since I was 13 yrs old.
For the past 5 days I have been using topical anti-fungal creams, hydrocortisone perscription creams (Lamasil) as well as a oral antibiotic - I always seem to be on antibiiotics....
TONIGHT...I was scared because I notice the first sore that appeared is now draining pus in a weird fashion -like its coming out a tube or a vein???? So began my internet quest.... here I am.....
NOW....I have been to this site before, CURED my sons bad acne (took him off the dreaded Acutane) with ACV!!! Thx! ..... So now going to try Tea Tree Oil and Tumeric? I have faith.... I will let you know the results in the morning. ( I havent slept in 5 nights from the burning pain.... even called in sick 3 days! )
WILL POST RESULTS TOMMOROW.....nite.
Apple Cider Vinegar and Baking Soda
★★★★☆
MSM
★★★★★
I have tried almost every remedy on this site with little results, aside from tumeric, which really only slowed the rapid growth of the massive infections.
I hit my limit one day and went to a natural foods store with a very long list of things I was going to try from this site. I ended up speaking to the owner of the store who asked what I was dealing with. I reluctantly told him, because as you know, it is very embarassing. He immediately said it sounded like a Ph issue and recommended organic sulfur (MSM).
I started taking 1 tsp in water morning and night. I felt the pain had started to go away the first night. By the third day I could lightly pinch the absess, which was quite large, with almost no pain. I would have been excruciating before. By the end of the week it was shrinking and COMPLETELY gone by two weeks. It is nothing short of amazing. I can have a normal life again.
It has been almost a year and I have had only one issue, only because I quit taking it regularly. I felt a little Pain on my inner thigh and felt a hard lump under the skin about the size of a pencil eraser. I didn't immediately panic and get upset. I started taking the organic sulfur again and in two days I can't feel it anymore.
It was very expensive in the store, but I found 4xs the amount on Amazon for half the price. My finace and I have been taking it regularly, for the most part and have seen our allergy symptoms dramatically decrease, he has started regrowing hair, and reduce sinus infections.
It is recommended to buy the powder, not capsules, because anticaking agents inhibit its results. Don't eat or drink anything for about 10 minutes after and don't mix it with anything but water. It is kind of bitter and doesn't taste very good. I noticed it tastes much better if I mix it in hot or very warm water and it disolves right away.
Please try it and let everyone know how it works for you. I went to the doctor many times over the years and NOTHING helped. I have had many absesses lanced and packed and it is awful. I didn't want to post to early as not to raise anyone's hopes. But I am more than sure now.
Rubbing Alcohol
Rubbing Alcohol
★★★★☆
From what I have read there are no cures for this condition but things we can do to help prevent and treat them. In personal experience when I put my snug form fitting leggings and jeans and tights on it makes it worse, when I exercise and eat well it gets better. When I was pregnant with both of my children ther were no signs of boils, it was the longest consecutive period of time I have gone without them, two days after I had my first son I got three abcesses. It made a very happy time depressing and painful, but I have done a ton of research and have been examined by several very good doctors and dermatologists and surgeons and I have learned alot about this condition, my mother had it also, for a short time, and my sister. It has gotten better with my age, I am used to living with it now. Don't be depressed, its ok and there are many of us out there. Any questions and feel free to ask. I have only had one flare up in about 6 months, I took care of it and it was gone in about 2 days with the rubbing alcohol trick;) hope this helps.
P. S. I never write on these things but this was totally worth my time because I know how alone you feel sometimes due to this, I have been there.
Multiple Remedies
My HS is stage 2-3 (I luckily do not have that many tracts yet). At first my HS started on my face, I would get a cyst on my nose or beside. My entire face would swell to the point of closing my eye shut. I lived with HS on my face for the first 13 years. Within the last 7 years my HS now flares up in my armpits, breasts, stomache, groin, anal entry and inside my vagina and sometime on my legs.
My worst cases:
My left armpit. I had one cysts that opened with 3 holes about the diameter of a pencil eraser, eventually they turned into one hole that I could fit a stack of 5 quarters neatly into, I could see my muscle.
My right breast (cleavage area). I had one cyst that pussed and was open for 2 years and was very foul smelling. It would seem to go away, and then it would flare larger right before menses.
My right thigh. This one just happened 2 days ago. Within 3 days I went from no cyst to a cyst the size of a softball. It was highly infected (heat, inflamed, red) and extremely painful. I had a low grade fever as well. When it burst (mine almost always do) I drained out over a 1/4 cup of pus. Within 2 days the hole has closed.
What I currently do to treat. For all of these cysts no medication has worked. What worked was, frequent cleansing with Hydrogen Peroxide. If the cyst is starting to collect pus again, I lift off scab, squeeze to drain out some of the pus and cleanse with hydrogen peroxide. Give the wound some air time. I use no bandaging if possible for two reason (my skin is sensitive, wherever the bandage lays on my skin, when the bandage is taken off, it peels my skin off as well leaving open wounds around the cyst. I also have psoriasis, and any cuts or scrapes will turn into psoriasis or inflame the cysts. The second reason I do not use bandages is the closed cyst will not heal and infection will get worse (I guess it just festers under the bandages).
For the cyst on my boob, hydrogen peroxide as well as M___'s Clarifying Cleanser (acne treatment) used daily worked. The cleanser is a facial cleanser. In desperation I tried this on my breasts and the open cyst closed within days, not weeks or months or another year. A cyst has yet to reactivate in this spot which is a scar now. This cleanser seems to work on many of my cysts that take longer to heal, especially around the boob area. They also have a good skin daily vitamin and if you sign up for the auto shipment you get wicked deals. I have used their acne body wash with no effect, but this face cleanser packs a powerful punch. This cyst was open for two years and was quite foul smelling, I tried all treatments in this time. And I highly recommend their facial cleansers/systems, they work wonders.
There is currently a clinical trial taking place for Hidradenitis Suppurativa. Go to clinicaltrials.gov to find clinical locations near you. They are studying if Adalimumab is an effective treatment.
Try to gain access to the medical site PubMed. There are over 800 medical articles on HS. I am currently trying to read through these. Some of the info I have found:
Adalimumab which is used to treat psoriatic arthritis has been shown to help with HS.
Overweight and smoking can effect HS.
Some people find white vinegar baths effective to control HS.
HS may be an autoimmune disease and thought to be linked to crohns' disease and graves disease.
It is easier to treat HS in the first stage. People with stage 3 should seek medical attention for their disease.
Hidradenitis Suppurativa usually flares up each month for women before or durring their menses due to hormone levels.
looking online, there seems to be much discussion on diet. People that have limited refined foods/carbs, dairy, sugar seem to be able to control their HS. Many HS sufferers seem to have positive results following the Paleo diet.
As my HS flares up before my menses or when I am stressed, I know hormones play a big role in my HS. As there is much speculation that HS is an autoimmune disease and has been linked to crohns and can cause psoriatic arthritis- I plan on looking further into diet. There is much info on diets to control inflammation, exzema, psoriasis which I think might also help HS.
If anyone has experimented with food to treat Hidradenitis Suppurativa, please share your experiences.
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General Feedback
General Feedback
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Tea Tree Oil
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Surgery
Surgery
★★★☆☆
WORKED TEMPORARILY
In 2001 I went to the dermatology dept at the va hospital in Houston and was told that I needed to see a general surgeon and was referred to that dept at the va. The Houston VA is a teaching hospital so doctors are trained there and only have short periods of residency before they move on to their final destinations in their practices. I was very lucky and had a very skilled surgeon who removed the sweat glands from under both my arms and improved the looks and health of the tissue under both my arms. The scarring from the surgery was minimal but it did take a couple of months to heal completely. The surgery was a complete success and I have not had any outbreaks since in that area.
Unfortunately, the outbreaks then started in groin and buttocks within about 4 years and I am now having the same problem in those areas as I did with my armpits. I tried to seek out another surgeon since the one who did my surgery under my arms in now in another part of the country. I have been told that they no longer use the surgery as a treatment and that I needed to take 2-3 baths daily with epsom salts and that this is the only approved treatment now and that I just needed to learn to live with it. They went on to say that surgery in the groin area an buttocks would be impossible as there are too many sweat glands and that they couldn't successfully get to them all. I feel like most of the "surgeons" I spoke to just didn't want to deal with the disease and were disgusted by it and believed that my cleanliness was the reason I had such a problem.
I had pretty much given up all hope when this week I decided to see if anything new had been discovered as a treatment for HS when I found your website. I am compiling a list of everything I have found here and intend to try everything until I get some relief. Any improvement would be appreciated whether I find a cure or not. The one thing I know is that Epsom salts does not work even if you spend the day in the bathtub. I thank God that I have found this website and pray to God that I find even a little relief. Thank you for being here. Cynthia in Richmond Tx.
★★★☆☆
WORKED TEMPORARILY
Everything was starting to heal up, sores that have been open for months and months but then after one week nothing changed. I continued to take the zinc picolinate because I really wanted to see results. After the entire bottle was finished without any really changes I never bought it again.
I understand all the comments on here are advice and everyone is different but it really made me so sad because it zinc picolinate was cheap and easy!
Tea Tree Oil
★★★★★
I purchased some TEA TREE OIL from WALMART for about $4.00 to mix with my shampoo to treat the dandruff. After reading a few posts on here, I used it on a particularly large, painful sore that would NOT open or drain after weeks.
I saw results WITHIN HOURS. No exaggeration, within HOURS the "cyst" had gone down in size noticably. By the second day, it had shrunk nearly 1/2 of its original size and pain was nearly 80% gone. I'm on my third day and I can't even feel it. I had no drainage, no pain and it is nearly gone. All I did was saturate the tip of a cotton swab (the kind you clean your ears with) with Tea Tree Oil and rub it gently onto the area. I covered the surrounding area for good measure. I did it twice per day and the results are amazing!
I read another post about the connection between HS and Yeast. At first I was really skeptical because my Dr. told me that the disorder is caused by inflammation of sweat glands which "traps" in bacteria which is naturally occuring in the body. Once it gets trapped, she explained, it festers and grows out of control and gets infected, causing these sores. But after seeing how well the Tea Tree Oil worked, I'm wondering if that "bacteria" she mentioned was a generalization and could include the naturally occuring yeast on/in? our skin? Tea Tree Oil, aside from moisturizing is an Anti-Fungal. It is helping with my dandruff, and it worked miracles on my HS sores. So, I wonder if there is not a connection.
I also saw some people treating it with a popular homeopathic yeast infection treatment. I used that same kind for a long time but never thought to monitor the sores with its use. I may start that up and see if it helps.
With all of this information, it makes sense that certain foods, stress and illness could cause a flare up of HS. It could be that those foods, situations, etc are causing inflammation which is trapping the naturally occurring bacteria in our bodies and BAM! Sores all over the place.
★★★★★
Multiple Remedies
★★★★☆
I finally got the guts to ask my gyno about it when I was like 18 and she told me it was a form of staph infections from poor hygiene, boy I felt like for a long time after that thinking it was something I did to myself. Luckily I know better now.
after doing some reaserch online, I refuse to use antibiotics because I dont want my body to build up a tolerence or be stuck on a medication for the rest of my life but some things I have found that have helped me are as followed.
When I get a flair up that wont pop, as long as its in an area I can bandage I use full strenth tea tree oil (I know its very drying on the skin, but it opens the sores right up to drain sometimes over night)
Recently, I cut out all majorly proccessed foods, and have gone gluten free and I noticed a HUGE change, they almost completely went away within a month, with an exception of one that I've been fighting with for about six months.
and then lastly I started taking Tumeric capsules like crazy. The 500mg ones, I would take 3x in the morning and 3x at night.
with the combination of all of that it cleared up my HS almost completely. Sadly, I went on vacation and didnt eat right, didnt take my vitamins, and I got insane flair ups, something like ten of them at once.
Over the last year I also lost 40 pounds and that might have something to do with it too. Anyway, I hope something here may help someone out there, I know it's all things that have been said before, but they have helped me when I stick to them!
Laser Therapy
