Doctors: Thanks to the Good Ones

Having a good doctor is incredibly important, especially if you have hidradenitis suppurativa. The right doctor can make all the difference in your experience of living with the condition.

When my flares first became unbearable, I had doctor appointments that affected me negatively. I still struggle with the trauma.

Medical PTSD is real

It can be hard to imagine that doctor appointments can cause post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but medical PTSD is real and I definitely have it. I didn’t understand those visits had triggered PTSD until I revealed my past medical experiences and their impact on me to one of my current doctors. She diagnosed PTSD and now I totally see it.

I used to be comfortable with needles, injections and doctor appointments as a whole, but not anymore. Now, I have panic attacks and I start shaking, sweating, and crying uncontrollably while undergoing certain procedures.

And spoiler alert: that’s 100 percent the fault of doctors who mismanaged my HS in the past. I should not get hysterical and start panicking the second my doctor says I’ll need an injection. That should not happen after I’d been fine with them for so long.

What makes a great doctor?

But I don’t want to focus on the negligence of some doctors. I want to thank the ones who understand.

I’d like to thank the doctors who try so hard to fix and reverse the pain and stress that the bad doctors caused people with HS disease in the past. Some of us have been affected so badly that we have it out for all medical professionals now, and that really isn’t fair.

There really are so many doctors out there who care and are trying to help us feel better.

Thank you to the doctors who:

• Listen.
• Don’t weight shame.
• Don’t patient blame.
• Attend conferences and symposiums to learn and better understand hidradenitis suppurativa.
• Don’t overbook, leaving us in waiting rooms for more than an hour.
• Won’t stop until they find treatment that actually helps.
• Have good bedside manners.
• Try to make painful procedures as painless as possible.
• Won’t make you feel bad for asking for pain medication.
• Squeeze you into their schedules because they know you’re struggling.
• Won’t tell you to exercise (as you are literally in the middle of telling them how much pain you’re in).
• Won’t push unnecessary drugs and prescriptions on you.
• Don’t act like they know so much more than you about HS disease just because they went to medical school.
• Understand that hidradenitis suppurativa is not your fault.
• Feel remorse when they cause us pain.
• Try to make you smile and laugh when you’re upset.
• Don’t make you come into the office just to tell you your test results came back normal.
• Try to undo all the PTSD and sorrow caused by the quack doctors.

Your HS ally is out there

Please never give up on doctors. Please don’t neglect your health and body by not going to medical professionals because of your bad past experiences. It really can make everything so much worse and I'm saying that from my own personal experience.

I swear there’s a doctor out there who truly wants to help you and who actually understands your hidradenitis suppurativa.