How do yours start?

Hi All

I’ve just found this website and thank God that I have.

Some background on me. I’m a 48 year old white male, Irish lived in London for years and just moved to Singapore. I don’t smoke or drink, am physically fit and exercise regularly and go to the gym. I try to eat as healthily as I can but have lazy days too. And I’ve had HS for 20 plus years.

I had cystic acne as a teenager leaving me heavily scarred on my back, face, chest and neck. The acne continued into my 20s and 30s so I learned to live with the pain, the stained clothing and sheets, the embarrassment in changing rooms, the self consciousness.

I noticed what I now know to be HS in my 30s probably. Started in the arm pits and groin. I didn’t know that they were but they all started in the same way.

A small blackhead or whitehead which I would squeeze. I know I’m not suppose to but I couldn’t resist. Whether I squeezed or not about 5 days would go by and in this time it would grow bigger and redder and maybe purple depending on the day (it seemed) and then sit like a big angry passenger on a bus giving out and getting more obnoxious and annoying. Then it would burst and so little would come out, like a tiny amount of pus, not even blood.

When the cysts burst there’d be gunk everywhere, and blood, lots of blood but when the HS opens up it’s a tiny amount of gunk and blood. I’d also pray for the bursting as when they grew the pain was debilitating and exhausting.

And then it would stay an open would for about 2 weeks until it sealed over and took about another 2 weeks to reduce in size. The site would never go back to my original skin colour for at least 6 months and would stay the same reddish purple colour for months after.

I use Sudocrem to try and calm them and maybe it works but maybe it doesn’t but sometimes does an ok job of almost acting as a salve and helping to soak up the pus.

I get them in my arm pits, groin, butt, chest and back as well as the back of my head. I’ve 5 or 6 of various sizes on my head right now and 4 on the inside of my arm, not my arm pit, but the inside of my arm, right now also as well as my groin, chest and shoulders.

When they join up is the worst. I can see like three or four of these angry passengers all sitting together, in a line but usually like a square of them, 3 or 4 and you can see the heads on them. And they are immensely painful. I dunt one or knock something against them and I am in agony. A sharp pain but also one that lasts a long time, like all day.

I use to be on clindamycin and riframpicin and that combo worked for a few months but it turned my sweat and my pee orange and messed up thinks like my appetite, sleep patterns and other stuff.

I’d love to hear how yours start, coping strategies for the pain, how much comes out when they burst, how long the open wounds last, what happens once they get smaller and how long the discolouration lasts.

Thank God I found you. Please come back to me.

Ojd90