Living

My home is my sanctuary. It's one of the only spaces I feel like I can be my most authentic self. As an adult, I've started investing in my space...

Urticaria (commonly knows as hives) is like a skin rash. It could get triggered by various factors such as food, weather, flora, fauna, insect bite and so on. Many of...

It feels like every time I go to the doctor, they want to make a change to my care. Every change strikes fear and anxiety. Will this new medication affect...

Hidradenitis suppurativa is awful to live with but you know what makes living with it even worse? Constantly getting certain comments and being told unsolicited medical “advice.” Seriously, no one...

Developing hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), at around 11 years old meant there were little to no opportunities for me to date or experience intimacy. Either because I was so insecure I...

I often am thankful I exist in this time and space as opposed to years and centuries past, because I have so many clothing choices as opposed to people in...

In case you missed it, check out Part 1 of this series! Realistically, I couldn’t blame all of my struggles on my circumstances because I also didn’t have good habits...

If you’re reading this article right now, then you or someone you know already knows this to be true: HS can be debilitating and incredibly hard to manage. At least...

When I was first diagnosed with hidradenitis suppurativa, I felt an overwhelming sense of loneliness. Anyone who has been diagnosed with HS has probably gone down the same rabbit hole...

I worry. It’s just who I am as a person. I worry about things that happened 10 years ago, and I worry about things that happened 10 minutes ago. It...

In case you missed it, check out Part 1 of this series! I felt myself starting to ramble on about some of the physical restraints HS has on the body...

You’d think I was about to tell my boyfriend I had a sixth toe or something going by how nervous I was to talk to him about my HS. For...

The burden I carry as a hidradenitis suppurativa patient (HS) is not light, it is dark. It's as if Dante's Inferno and the book of Revelations had a baby, and...

Art is a great way to distract yourself from the pain. It also is a great way to document your Hidradenitis Suppurativa journey. Your style of art might change whether...

Hidradenitis suppurativa can be caused by many different things. Some people might flare from stress, anxiety, depression, or a hormonal imbalance, while others might flare from certain foods or beverages...

I’ve got a couple of things that make me really want to jump in a pool. One of my co-morbidities to hidradenitis suppurativa is ankylosing spondylitis, and because it affects...

You either hate or love therapy. Some days, it’s both. I have been in therapy off and on for 9 years, and recently, I found that therapy can be a...

In case you missed it, check out Part 1 of this series! Deciding to talk to my supervisor about my HS symptoms terrified me to no end. Don’t get me...

I remember the first time my supervisor asked me why I always walked funny. It wasn’t in a disrespectful way or anything, but I definitely remember feeling a little self-conscious...

I’m frustrated. I’m angry. I’m thoroughly annoyed. I don’t know how many times this needs to be said, but let me shout it out loud for the people in the...