Sorry, forgot...scroll down to her section on SKIN.

I've lost 85 pounds and no change. It's less painful, maybe, like you said...I absolutely encourage everyone I know to change their lives and live a healthier life because you just feel SO MUCH BETTER in general, but HS is not caused by obesity ABSOLUTELY NOT! This pisses me off too, AGH!

We suffer enough we don't need to be blamed for our suffering. It's ridiculous!

Man I'm so mad I could spit.

That really pisses me off. Matter of fact, I take a huge amount of offense to that. I could lose some weight, granted but I know my weight alone hasn't caused this disease. That and I've read reports of being thin and overweight, neither of which differed in the HS. As if having this disease isn't bad enough, we apparently need people to say, "Well, if you weren't fat you wouldn't have it." That's just wrong. Not to mention, when I got my first outbreak of HS I was 5'2 and 120 lbs. I wasn't overweight.

I agree...weight loss or not, HS does not get better. I lost 20 pounds 2 years ago, and I've got the worst case of HS than I have ever had in my fat years. It's just an excuse that people who know nothing about HS Use. Ignore it.

I feel like a lot of doctors use weight as an excuse to not treat patients and that's really disgusting. It's really offensive. If everything were as simple as dropping a few the whole world would be super healthy

I'm glad to see that I wasn't just being overly sensitive. Struggling with this has, at times, made me a little touchy on the subject. I don't feel so alone now, knowing that it isn't just me that this hit wrong with. I'm sure she is a good doctor, most likely with good intentions. But it still hit me wrong.
Respectful, I agree that probably the best course is to ignore it. But it is darn hard when you see a doctor on your own support site spouting that kind of garbage. Weight seems to be a catch all for stuff, especially HS. And it just makes me plain madder than a bear with a mouthful of bees.
And I agree Phoenix, if it were so easy, the world would be in perfect health. That's another thing that chaps my ass, that regular folks seem to think that exercising is easy, that you just have to get off your ass and do it. And to a point I agree. But then again tell that to the person TRYING to exercise with a monster abscess in their inner thigh,groin or armpit. I can bet you at that moment they ain't gonna bite. I try to exercise when I am not flared up (which recently has not been often) but it usually ends up with me paying for it. with a nasty flare up later. Which is ok, I guess. You know what they say, if you don't use it your gonna lose it. I feel a little better knowing it was not just me letting my last few bad days be the reason this hit me so all kindsa wrong.
Thank you all for your replies. Much love to you all and hope you are all having as pain free a day as possible.

I saw where some of you had posted a reply to her post. I replied myself with this.

"Being a person afflicted with HS, I find your posting in the skin section very offensive. Those of us who have it AND have personal FIRST HAND KNOWLEDGE of this disease know that obesity is NOT the cause of our HS. The idea of weight being the cause is an idea perpetuated by both the medical profession and those not in the field simply because they don't have a clue what really causes it, much less what treatments are effective. Things that work for one person may not work for another. Please bone up on your info, or at the VERY least, talk to those of us WITH HS before perpetuating the same idiotic myth about HS. HS IS NOT CAUSED BY OBESITY OR WEIGHING MORE THAN ONE SHOULD."

I didn't scroll down far enough to see that I could comment the first time I saw this. Which is probably a good thing, seeings that I was in such a tizzy when I first read this, that if I had seen it then, I might not be able to post today..lol (especially with my foul mood the past couple of days..lol)

what about the people who are not over weight ?? i have been thin my whole life and this h.s is still kickin my ass But it will not win

I CAN'T stand this! I first started having issues with HS when I was 13. I remember being told constantly lose weight, & keep clean. As if a 13 year old girl isn't insecure enough!! That doctor made me feel so dirty, fat & ugly for having this problem. :(

I love my doctors now. I mentioned weight loss to my general care doctor in relation to this condition and he told me that the worst case he had ever seen was on a man skinny as a rail! & that my weight had nothing to do with it.

However, exercise is always healthy. I have a hard time because all my breakouts are in my groin area. Ouchie! If you were trying to exercise and have access to a pool, I suggest swimming. I considered signing up for my local swim center, but it is a lot more money than I can afford at the moment...oh well.

I know this is an older post but it hit a nerve with me... I have had so many doctors tell me my skin problems are due to my weight..and I would ask them "well why is it then that my father who has never been overweight struggles with this very issue as well???" and they could never give me an answer..my latest visit I was so embarrassed bc the doctor pretty much said it was my weight and hygiene that caused my HS and if I lost weight and kept myself clean that it would go away.I left the doctor visit and sat in my car and bawled my eyes out.It is freaking ridiculous and its getting old :( I feel like I am in this vicious cycle because I try and drop some weight but when I sweat I break out more and then I am in pain and cant work out.I just don't know what to do anymore
:( my body is so covered in scars that I just feel disgusting..and it doesn't help having "know it all" doctors who know nothing about HS point a finger at me and tell me I am the problem.

OMG I freaking know....I used to exhaust my patience and it took every bit of the fact that I was raised to be respectful and that I was at a "Christian" medical facility for me not to speak my effing mind when stupid skinny bitch barely out of not even real nursing school would tell me if you lose weight it will go away or I know you want to be skinny....I never met them a day before in my life and and not violent but they made me want to mike tyson style knock them out to shut them the eff up. I hate to say this but it makes me feel a lot better that ya'll get it and have been just as disgusted with poor bedside manners of crappy medical staff.

It took a huge toll on me when I was younger. I have been the girl crying in my car in desperation. Then I said screw them, screw their crappy so called medical knowledge and decided to take care of myself the best I can.

WEIGHT LOSS is not the CURE..JACKASSES!!!!

I know....my mother and countless other friends of "hers" say the same thing. They have no clue as to what this disease is...I used to weigh 203.8 pounds on a 5 foot tall body...and I never had any problems. I lost 20 pounds before I discovered this dreadful disease...and I am still losing weight and I still don't feel better at all! It has not improved diddly squat. I was one who replied to that post...What people don't know just assume that it has to do with weight...AKA My MOTHER.

Oh I hear ya.. I am christian too and in that moment I wanted to rip into her so badly.I did snap at her eventually because I know its not my weight.I was skinny when I developed HS.My dad has been thin all his life and struggles with HS.I just get so fed up because I do feel that they hide behind weight issues because they don't know how to deal with HS..but seriously if people ARE losing weight or they ARE skinny and struggle with HS then why don't they realize hey..drrrrrr maybe its not totally a weight issue and there is something ELSE causing this.What makes me super angry is that I spend MY money to go to them for help and they act like I am a big effing inconvenience...its your effing job???? lol seriously... I had a few "beautiful" female doctors totally treat me like I was a disgusting pig because of HS..definitely makes you want to slap the EFF out of them..

I have struggled too because my mom and sister are freaking gorgeous..and anytime I had a breakup my mom always said oh they must have been shallow..even tho it would be me breaking up with the guy lol.. its hard but sometimes but I try to remember they just don't get it.

I try to always remember that it is hard to understand unless you have been there, and I do good keeping my cool with folks who just don't have a clue. Where I kinda sorta have an issue is when medical doctors fling random shit at us, random reasons, latching onto anything they can think of to try to sound like they know what they are talking about. How hard is it to say "I haven't a clue."? I say it all the time. I know plenty about some stuff, some stuff I really know a lot about, but I don't know everything, and I don't have a problem saying it.
Thankfully I never had my mom being stupid like that, but then again I haven't talked to her in almost 4 years. BUT I have had to deal with my MIL. She keeps telling me to MAKE the doctors do something. She thinks that there should be some sort of cure, some fix all out there. But then again, sometimes I think she wants to believe that she is in worse shape than anyone else around her, and that could be true...I don't know. (it's so easy to say..lol)
It's just her constant badgering that there should be a way to MAKE doctors CURE me, it's just flat out annoying.
And I've had the "pretty" female docs look at me like I was Quasimodo, so I know how you feel there, Lucky. And subsequently had the "I want to pluck your eyeballs from your pretty little head." feelings as well. LOL
I just though everyone would "enjoy" (much sarcasm here) seeing that even on our support site, we have doctors who know little but run that "mouth" much. ;)

Shannon I totally wish they would they " I don't know" or " we haven't dealt with HS much and we're still learning about the disease" or something like that.. I would have so much more respect if they said that than always saying its my weight or hygiene..A person can only devote so many hours a day to scrubbing your skin! lol honestly we are probably cleaner than most people bc we HAVE to take care of our skin,avoid irritants etc to keep it somewhat under control.I know I shower several times a day and even take those open moments during the day to tend to my skin when I can.

I'm sorry to hear about your MIL...it is very frustrating when people assume you just aren't pushing doctors hard enough.My ex MIL is an RN so she loves to question like crazy...luckily I never told her about my skin issue and I am so glad she didn't know because I know she would have hassled me about it.

It was embarrassing one time to go to the ER and have the lady tell me it was my weight and hygiene right in front of my ex husband..and he gave me this look like he thought that might be the issue too.He didn't really understand my skin problems but I also didn't know it was HS at the time but he knew I really struggled with my skin.It was just disheartening to have her say that..my heart sank when I heard it and thought great he's going to think its me.

I wish there was some way to get them to realize its so much more than the weight..and I feel like so many of us who do struggle with weight would be willing to try any kind of diet if its healthy,helps us lose weight and if we felt the doctors were hearing and understanding its not the weight thats causing this issue and the diet would improve our skin problems..but they just throw the weight issue around and I feel like I become resentful about my weight when they constantly say its my weight causing HS.When I had lost weight my skin got worse but I think that was because I was exercising and sweating a lot.