I'm sorry for this; I've found a lot of comfort in this forum, and I really have been struggling lately. I am so, so tired of living with HS. Relatively, it's not nearly as bad as some others- it's limited to late stage 2 in thigh and groin area, and been dealing for about seven years. I am thankful it is not worse, but still, some days I am so sick and tired of having to go through the same pain each day. Within the last year I have gained three new wounds in particularly bad areas, and typically, at any given point, at least two are open. On the rare day that they're all closed, they are still so swollen under the skin that it's not much better. Every day I have to take time from my morning to clean and bandage these open wounds on my body, and now, the skin around the lesions is so agitated from the bandages that I can either choose between pain from open HS spots or pain from the bandages pulling at raw skin. I hate walking with a limp half the time from the pain and telling people that it's just my knee causing me problems, because, really, what are you supposed to tell somebody who asks in passing why you're limping? "Sit for a spell, let me tell you about this thing called hidradenitis suppurativa!" It is painful and embarrassing. I've got bright purple and red scars on both sides of my legs. I have tried topical treatments- colloidal silver, Mupericen (sorry for spelling), which will often help on the "original" wound which has the deepest tracts, tea tree oil, you name it- and they will either not work or work for a short while before failing; I have tried oral treatments, such as vitamins and curcumin, etc. At this point I feel I am at the mercy of my body, and I hate it. I apologize for my negativity, but to this forum, thank you for giving people a safe place to complain and vent and help each other. Blessings on you all.