Try intermittent fasting. I've been doing it since watching Eat, Fast, and live longer (6 months ago). I've noticed fewer outbreaks and definitely none that have swelled and ruptured. It appears that fasting does cause the body to go into 'repair' mode.

The toothpaste thing is really interesting. I remember we girls used to use toothpaste on the pimples on our face back when we were teenagers (a thousand years ago.)

My tip: Wash your towels! Every time you bathe, or at least every other time. Also add a bit of bleach when you wash them. Sheets too, but mostly towels. They get more contaminated with bacteria and drainage from open sores than you think, and then they spread the infection next time you use them. This has helped my skin immensely.

At the first Boil I see I slather the daylights out of it with Neosporin. I had one the size of an egg on my inner thigh, and the next two days it shrunk down to a penny. It then disappeared for good in 1 week.

Great idea for a discussion Nicole!

Use products containing salicylic acid such as strident wipes, they clean the affected area and really speed up healing.

If you can get hold of magnesium sulphate paste use it on abscesses and just watch how fast they clear up!

Change to primarily raw foods diet (roughly 80-90%). Along with loads of other tips I found together this worked wonders for me, I was diagnosed while pregnant with my first child and had a lot of recurring outbreaks afterward, my doctor prescribed me antibiotics but they did very little to help at all (great!). Anyway as you all probably no this was a very low point in my life, however after searching the net for alternative treatments I realised maybe there was an alternative, I came across a website called http://curehidradenitissuppurativanow.com and read their information.

Well it may be too soon to tell but armed with the info I read their I am now nearly 6 months symptom free!

It may be worth it for you guys to check it out.

Good luck and hope this helped!

Respectful, I've done that before once they are opened and draining. It seems to help them heal up quicker. I also use diaper rash cream on my armpits. I get the really dry red cracked skin in the crease of my arm pit and it itches and hurts something awful. I usually use the white cream because it looks like deodorant and helps with the smell.

Someone on a thread a while ago posted incidentally that when their really large sores are draining they use pantiliners inside their clothes, and this tip was a total A-HA! life changer for me. You can cut them to size, they are thin, they stick to your clothes anywhere you want, they are leakproof, they absorb.... the perfect solution.

I don't know why I never thought of that tulip, that is a great idea. I should of thought of that because I used them after I had my daughter for leakage.

Will definitely be trying this one, it would be so much better than band aids which hurt the skin.

I use gold bold medicated power daily to prevent chafing, sweating and heat spots in the fold areas which is a major trigger for me. This has been a amazing discovery for me in preventing outbreaks in the first place.

When I do get a outbreak I use Evocilin 1% foam which seems to prevent the boil from getting infected and it usually disappears in a few days to a week without becoming large or painful.

using the above two methods I have limited my outbreak to 1 or 2 a year.

They work really well nicolesfight, So much more absorbent than bandaids, and nothing to stick to your skin. I just stick one to the inside of my pants or bra or wherever and away I go.

Murtz can you elaborate on what Evocilin foam is? Is it an antibacterial wash, like Hibiclens? Where do you buy it?

I wish I could edit here...

I wanted to add that I do pack my draining sores as well, with antibac and gauze, but the added waterproof layer of a pantiliner lets me go out in public without ruining my clothes.

Be very careful using pantiliners. I used them for drainage and it turned out I was allergic to them. The liners activated my HS. Now I only use liners made out of cotton.

God Ive done so much since my diagnosis its hard to even list it all.

1.Go comando as much as possible if I have any kind of breakout in the genital / groin region. I use cotton cloth reusable kind that I toss in the washing machine. The ones you get at the grocery store can have chemcials. I find them irritating but it might just be an allergy.

2. Bentonite clay. I cannot ever say enough positive things about bentonite clay. I mix mine with organic apple cider vinegar and smear it all over the area, including scars, bumps that havent come to the surface yet, open wounds (even use it as a face mask); I see a lot of clearing, faster healing, less pain. less scarring sometimes I see small ones go away instead of coming to the surface. Ive seen people who say they drink the stuff, Im not that committed but it is very effective at drawing things out / healing. I use it in homemade shampoo and baby rash cream as well.

3. Losing weight. I did this for my pcos, I know not everyone with HS is overweight but dropping 50 lbs (from about 185 to 134 right now) has really helped. I went on an autoimmune diet and from that stopped eating sugar, wheat, corn, soy, and tomatoes. I dont do much exercise as it irritates my skin. Im not sure if its the diet change or the weight loss that helped, but its worth a try.

4. neosporin.
I used to put this on a boil when I felt the pain or the lump but it wasnt near the surface yet, I would notice a great reduction in swelling. Ive switched to the clay but this was effective


5. Hormone supplements
I take several supplements; cinnamon (for my blood sugar), Vitex (chaste berry) and a hormonal balance blend from my local healh food store. I know this wont work for most people but I've really seen a difference in the large breakout I would see whenever I got my period, now I dont really get those flare ups. I think theres a connection between my HS and my PCOS (since metformin and antiandrogens often help both conditions). Maybe if you have PCOS as well this well be helpful to you.

Great post !

Marisa - I too have PCOS and now stage 3 HS - I'm working on losing weight - down 68 pounds so far but as of now the symptoms are worse not better. I'm hoping once I hit my goal weight and stabilize that the flare ups ease off. About a month ago I was put on Humira - I will say I think its working more than anything else has. A little early to say for sure but I"m hopeful!

1. Turmeric and Zinc. Takes about 3 months of daily use to really see improvement but it's worth it
2. Matcha green tea - anti inflammatory
3. Juice of 1 lemon daily (usually just make lemonade with stevia and water, drink 1/2 a lemon in the morning, 1/2 in the afternoon)
4. Little to no dairy, I think I'm allergic
5. Keep it as dry as possible. I don't bandage unless I have to. I blow dry after a shower on low. Or lay under a fan if I have time.
6. No shaving. At least not with a razor. I have one of those trimmers that is thin like a pencil, I run it as close to my skin as possible without touching my skin.

I don't use neosporin or anything like that. I find it heals the top layers of the skin but not the inside. So the spot just comes right back. If I just keep it clean and dry and give it as much air as I can then it will eventually heal from the inside out.

Kristi my first 30 lbs of loss (about half of my total needed weight loss) I saw a huge increase in the amount of new bumps / and more sinus tract formation. Im not sure if its from the toxins that are released from losing weight (fat is where we store toxins - at least thats what ive read), from the friction because I used to exercise (I dont really anymore besides swimming, and light weight training, I try not to sweat / chafe so no more killer cardio). Once I got down to goal I noticed a lightening in some of the acanthosis (darkening of the skin aroudn my neck, arms, inner thighs) so Im guessing my insulin resistance and hormonal problems are better and thats why I saw the drastic improvement in my HS. I als want to add that a few years ago i lost weight on a low fat / higher carb diet and saw NO improvement in HS, in fact it was probably worse. This time around I went LCHF / Ketogenic so maybe thow you lose the weight matters if you have a condition like pcos? No doctor I went to (Ive seen a dozen) has recomended Humira. Are you experiencing any side effects ?