HS flares & processed meats
I'm a 78 yr old woman who has just experienced her first and only hs boil/cyst/lesion appx 10 months ago. The first time it flared I was experiencing extreme & chronic stress. I finally got the lesion to heal and did ok for about 4 or 5 months when the stress subsided. After 4 or 5 a NEW stressor entered my life and very unexpectedly it flared again. This thing is driving me nuts. It's on my left upper back. Hard area to work with. When it flares I use warm compress & htg pad that soothes it and draws pus out. I keep it clean with antibacterial soap & saline wipes and bandage. But, almost to the minute it flares right back up on the 7th day. The only thing I can see that I may be doing to cause it to reflare is eating processed meats almost daily. I'm wondering if that could be my trigger. I eat no sugar, soft drinks etc and am staying as far away from histamine foods. I would greatly appreciate anyone's thoughts. BTW effective today no more processed meats.
Hello
, thank you for reaching out. I'm sorry to hear of your current flare. How frustrating that you can almost guarantee a flare right back up on the 7th day. It's good to hear that you've found some ways to help manage symptoms, whether that's with the warm compresses or dietary changes.
Many people here have also found making dietary changes helpful in managing flares, so I hope some of them can share their experiences with you, especially those that have noticed any connection to processed meats. Of course, what's a trigger for one person won't necessarily be the same for another, so please do keep that in mind when you hear from others. In the meantime, I wanted to share this article with you about HS and diet, https://hsdisease.com/diet. And this article, written by one of our health leaders about her various triggers which includes red meat, https://hsdisease.com/living/sticks-stones.
I do hope that you can get some relief soon! If you're comfortable, please keep us updated with how the flare is going and if you notice a difference cutting out processed meats. -- Warmly, Christine (Team Member)
Hi
. Welcome to the community! I'm glad to hear that eliminating processed foods is helping. Everyone's triggers are different, so it can take a lot of trial and error to figure it out. Have you seen a dermatologist who is familiar with HS disease? If so, has your doctor offered any treatment? Here is an article about treatments for HS disease: https://hsdisease.com/treatment. If you click on the links within the articles, you will find more specific articles. I hope you find something in the articles you haven't tried yet that helps. Gentle hugs. - Lori (Team Member)
