i'm sorry to hear you're dealing with this. as a plastic and reconstructive surgery nurse i've worked with many hidradenitis patients so i understand how painful and embarrassing it can be. i'm afraid in general i don't have good news for you. hidradenitis suppurativa is a difficult insidious disease. it basically is an infection of the apocrine sweat glands and only occurs where these glands are located in the skin: the armpits groin perineal area perianal area and areola (area around the nipple). hidradenitis in not curable. in general patients go through mild outbreaks that are treated with antibiotics or other therapies. in my experience hidradenitis almost always recurs however. the only permanent solution to the problem is surgery. surgery is usually reserved for intractable cases where the lesions won't heal and stay open and oozing for weeks or even months. i'm not sure what your doctor is planning to inject you with. botox (botulinum toxin) is not indicated for hidradenitis and there's no evidence it would be useful. botox is used to treat excessive sweating which is called hyperhidrosis. it's possible your doctor is planning to inject corticosteroids into the lesions because this is a fairly common treatment when the disease is in the milder stage. in general hidradenitis patients should focus on keeping the apocrine gland areas very clean with gentle daily washing using an antibacterial cleanser and cleansing only with bare fingers. it's helpful to avoid any sort of skin trauma in susceptible areas and even washing with a washcloth can possibly trigger an outbreak. i wish you all the best with this condition. had simalar problem and could not get any answers. researched simalar conditions for over two years. finally found a possibile answer (not a cure but keeps them at bay). cut out all pork out of your diet. read all labels and take caution no chips fried in pork fat no lunch meat no canned meats etc. etc. it took me about three months for the bacteria enzymes ? what ever it is in pork to get purged out of my system and it worked. have not had any reoccurances since then. it may be worth a shot ain't gonna hurt. good luck. back in the 60's i had boils. after many months of suffering my doctor sent the pus from the boil to a lab & had a vaccine made from it. i took injections of the vaccine for approximately 6 weeks & i haven't had a boil since. can this not be done for those suffering with boils today? l. wilborn this condition started 5 years ago and exacerbated with shaving. it is extremely painful cannot be improved with excessive hygiene is embarrassing has resulted in multiple scars and had a psychological effect on me also. i just want it to go away! sometimes the boils last 2-3 weeks. can it be permanently cured or go into a "remission period"? it's so gross!
diagnosis- hidradenitis suppurativa- large and painful boils in the groin area. considering injections. success rate? . this condition started 2 years ago and exacerbated with shaving. it is extremely painful cannot be improved with excessive hygiene is embarrassing has resulted in multiple scars and had a psychological effect on me also. i am considering the injections. my dr. said it's botox but i read that it's antibiotic. i just want it to go away! sometimes the boils last 2-3 weeks. can it be permanently cured or go into a "remission period"? it's so gross!