Hello, I personally wouldn't do it for fear of infection but......if your hospital is like mine and won't allow me to come in for lancings because they don't want to touch or you have a specialist (again like mine) who tells you to pop them like a pimple (seriously what an idiot) then more power to you! Luckily, I found a new dr who says I can come in anytime. Please be careful though and be aware of cellulitis also.

Thanks for this! My dermo I think is caught between a rock and a hard place, he doesn't want me to do it but then in the UK the hospitals are under immense pressure and short staffed etc so he doesn't want me to have the 5 hour wait each time. I never actually knew it could cause cellulitis, I shall research cellulitis. I think after 10 + years you just give up and try to self medicate.

Hi saas, here is a site you can go to actually written in the UK...patient.info . I typed in hidradenitis suppurativa cellulitis and that's where i found it, I think the actual name of the website is Patient. If I knew how to link the site to you I would lol. I'm not that smart :) You can also look up photos. Cellulitis is an infection and can make you very very sick. Luckily both times i had it it wasn't that bad and went away on its own but it looked awful! It's just one one of the many stupid things you have to watch for.
Also, I am curious. Can your regular dr get you in right away to lance these? That's why I set up with my dr. She researched HS for me and said all I have to do is call her and come in. No need for me to see a dermatologist but I do not know how things work there. I hope this helps and keep me updated on how your doing. Please feel free to mssg me whenever you like. Take care-j

I hope I clarified you can get cellulitis from HS.

I wish it did work like that here :-( If I get one that is really bad, my only option is A&E or an out of hours GP. If I can get an appointment with me regular doctor (you can wait up to a week to get an appointment) then they send me straight to A&E anyway.
and then you have to wait like everyone else.

I have regular check up's every 6 months with a dermatologist and then he decides what the next course is I,.e surgery or more medication. I am just left to deal with it on my own, thankfully I have amazing family and a fabulous partner, I bathe regularly in Dettol to keep all areas clean, also my soon to be mother-in-law is a nurse so luckily I have an amazing support network. As for the hospital, half the time they haven't heard of it and I have to explain to them what it is. I also suffer from PCOS which doesn't help as they think my PCOS is hormone related and trying to get both departments in the hospital to communicate is like trying to get blood out of a stone.

So after 10+ years suffering I am left to lance any boils myself or thankfully some go naturally then I can just bathe them and keep them clean.

Do you get a lot of boils that just stay under the surface and never drain? I get a lot of these all the time and I struggle with the infection that just sits under the skin and just won't go anywhere, I am resistant to most anti biotics as well :-( xxxx

I just added a post under "learned something."
The dermatologist has a strict rule about NOT lancing and told me if I did it myself it would create "tunnels" and I would introduce infection into the wound.
The surgeon said obviously all that stuff has to come out and he lanced the HS bump immediately.
I confessed to the surgeon that I had tried to lance it myself with a needle and he said, "I don't care. As long as it's sterile."
I was STUNNED!
I lance mine all the time, using lots of alcohol, sterile bandages, etc. It makes no sense to me to leave a puddle of nasty stuff in your body.

Mine rarely drain. If they come to a head I "pop" them. But I know it's bad to squeeze them. Mine don't get gigantic. They get hard and painful then eventually get soft and I can sometimes feel a little hollow spot there. But they rarely drain. Maybe they are too deep? Is this the case for anyone else?