Hidradenitis Suppurativa Facts

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory disease that causes lumps to form under the skin. These lumps can be painful and may rupture and leak fluid or pus. Some people develop tunnel-like tracts under the skin connecting the lumps. HS affects about 1 in 100 people and is more common in women than men.

For people who develop HS, also known as acne inversa, the appearance of boil-like lesions can be confusing. When Francisco Kerdel, MD, founder of Florida Academic Dermatology Center in Coral Gables, sees new patients with HS, “the most common history that we get is that they get recurrent boils and they have to go to the emergency room for them to be drained,” he says.

Here’s what everyone with hidradenitis suppurativa should know about managing and treating the chronic skin disease:

1. Hidradenitis Suppurativa Targets Hair Follicles

The disease commonly flares up in the armpits, groin, buttocks, and in women, underneath the breasts, says Dr. Kerdel. Hair follicles in those areas become blocked, triggering an inflammatory process that can affect apocrine glands, special sweat glands that happen to be prevalent in areas of the body most affected by HS. “There may also be a secondary effect from bacterial overgrowth and the damage that occurs in the site then damages the apocrine glands,” says Kerdel.

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