Hi @A myHSteam Member, if your daughters flare ups are limiting her movements, try going to the walk in centre or a&e, that’s where I ended up, had a lance and drain on my armpit, but it did also get me into dermatology much quicker, I waited 7 weeks. X

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A myHStea...

Thank you, I appreciate you taking the time to send pictures of what the stages may look like. The waiting list to see a dermatologist in the UK, we were advised it could be a year's wait. So we are patient and looking into the condition, signs, treatment, outcomes. Trying to be best equipped before we get seen. I hope that they'll find a cure, but if not that then something to help significantly reduce flares. I can't begin to imagine what you are going through, just know that I'm thinking of you. I see that you've had surgery from a different Q&A, how have you found the journey?

👇👇 this is some of the stages of HS 👇👇
They can normally tell by the way it looks and we’re it is to be honest with you but doctors 🥼 and scientists 🧑‍🔬 still don’t know enough about HS yet they are still working on a cure for us behind the scenes but there are still things you can do 🤗

Your daughter is so blessed to have a mom like you who is making sure she gets the care she needs ❤️ in case you need to hear it (us moms always need to hear it) you are doing a great job! My mom passed away when I was 14 and even at 38 I still miss her and wish she was here to hold my hand through the hard things, like HS.

What I have found to be most helpful in general with my HS flares is the following, I apologize if it’s all old news to you.

keeping my problem areas as clean and dry as possible. If you’re not using an antibacterial wash like Hibiclense already I suggest you get some and use it daily.

Wearing clean fresh underwear and bras every day is important too so you’re not keeping bacteria in areas prone to infection.

If a flare bursts or is draining, it’s important to keep the drainage off the surrounding healthy skin because it can be very irritating and spread infection to other areas. Absorbent bandages or even the super thin feminine pads can be really helpful for this.

Calmoseptine is a thick pink diaper rash medication. It’s been around for 70+ years. It’s intended to be used in delicate sensitive areas and on blistered broken rash covered skin. I find it useful for my HS flares. It’s soothing, almost numbing, and is great at helping in healing. It can feel tingly/burning-ish for the first minute or so. Pharmacies sometimes keep it behind the counter, just ask for it. It’s also available on amazon and Walmart.

Medication seems to be a slow painful trial and error process, it seems like you are doing a great job with it and trying to find what will help your sweet girl most.

Tunneling is when the infection from an HS sore goes deep under the skin. It can leave areas that are stretched out and difficult to remove infection from. Even after the sore is healed, you can feel the area that was stretched out and filled with the infection. Ares with tunneling are more prone to re infection. It’s sort of an internal skin scarring.

Unfortunately scientists and Dr’s still don’t know what causes HS or how to cure it to get rid of it for good. I personally believe that hormones are the culprit for when flares get bad.

Some people have found great success managing their HS with eliminating certain things from their diet. It might be worth trying to see if she can find any relief that way.

The dermatologist will be able to help you determine what stage of HS your daughter has. Finding a dermatologist who is knowledgeable about HS and is caring can make your HS journey so much more bearable.

All my best wishes for you and your daughter. You’re not alone in this condition and you are doing an amazing job ❤️

I vaguely remember one of my gps when examining one of my new lumps, said he wasn’t too concerned as it was a hard lump, but should it feel squishy, a bit like a water balloon, then they’ll have to look into it further, so maybe a doctors visit if you can, although I’m not sure what he was referring to as I was just grateful to not be sent back into surgery. Xx