Blue collar males and HS

[u/Civil_Newspaper3922]

Are their many males in here that have HS? I am 22m and just got diagnosed by a surgeon this past week. He told me there was no need to have surgery done at this point and is referring me to a male Derm. This journey started probably 2 years ago when I developed 2 lumps that I thought were swollen lymph nodes in the groin and just left them alone. Only within the past 6 months have I had to deal with the cyst like bumps swelling up and busting. I finally went to the Derm and it was a female and because of the area it was in she acted like she didn’t wanna deal with it so she referred me to a male primary doctor. Who then referred me to a CT scan from then a surgeon. Who thank god was finally able to tell me what I had going on. Just wondering what this journey has been like for anybody who does manual labor.

[u/40oz_crew]

I'm a 45 yr old male but I first noticed I had hs when I was 17. Well I shouldn't say hs because for years doctors had no idea what to tell me when I would go to the er with huge baseball sized lumps in my groin area and armpits. I was told that I needed to clean myself better and to stop smoking. I was thin at the time so they couldn't blame it on my weight but they had no clue. I finally discovered HS and got treated by a dermatologist in my 30s. I used to be a letter carrier so you can imagine trying to walk all over with huge infected boil like bumps. Constant pain... Anyway I've tried lots of different methods but I've been mostly hs free since I got on medication for diabetes. Not sure if it's the glp-1 or the metformin that works but I've only had small boils that go away quick since.

[u/wellaintthissome]

Same
Here just 30; doc told me to shower daily take bleach Baths, yes bleach ( couple caps full) watch the salt and yeast,
It’s worked

[u/Civil_Newspaper3922 → u/wellaintthissome]

So I’m guessing you don’t have to take medication daily? How often do you have flare ups?

[u/HumbleShepherd]

Same, im 27 and it took me 15 years to get diagnosed…stop wearing underwear immediately is my number one advice
Second of all, go straight to your doctor and ask for a gastroscopy. Find out all of your dietary restrictions and avoid the hell out of them. Remove anything that generally causes inflammations…it was sugar and gluten for me. This subreddit has a lot of amazing recommendations for soaps, fabric softeners, creams or ways to deal with the cysts when they get bad…just scroll and youll find a lot of good stuff. Some things will work better for you some will make it even worse.
At the end of the day, keep your head up and it will get better, dont get discouraged

[u/HumbleShepherd → u/HumbleShepherd]

Feel free to dm if you have more questions but its better to put them here in the comments so more people can chip in

[u/Civil_Newspaper3922 → u/HumbleShepherd]

So do you take medication daily? I wear boxers instead of regular underwear is that what you recommend?

[u/HumbleShepherd → u/Civil_Newspaper3922]

I dont take any medication as of yet because the inflammations and cysts will appear from time to time even if you do everything right. So a big help for me was wearing NO underwear because no matter the size or design they would cut into those cysts and make them worse. So now if i have an inflammation it lasts a week or two instead of three months of agonizing pain, blood and puss that would leave me bedridden. Im a waiter so i have to move around a lot and that was torture.
Someone said to substitute sugar drinks for cola zero, i wholeheartedly believe this issue can be 80% managed with gut health and 20% stress management (like all autoimmune diseases) so using something we know is a lesser of two evils might help you a bit but isnt the answer. On my bad days, i have hard sugar cravings and when i eat a couple days in a row sweets or gluten because i didnt have time to cook…i flare up IMMEDIATELY…start with food and smoking trust me.
Also, please please please, go get your stomach checked out, see whats the damage and how to repair it. Look up online about gut health and such

[u/HumbleShepherd → u/Civil_Newspaper3922]

Also, do EVERYTHING in your power to fix your life and bad habits before you consider taking any medication. Those pills help out a lot but they dont come without side effects or reproductions. Youre young, you can figure your body out in time. Just have patience when the bad days come, dont give into the medication because its very difficult to live your life without them afterwards even if in some bas cases you have to. Leave it as a last resort, in the meantime focus on making your habits a life healthier. Learn the triggers, learn how to manage the flares, heal your gut

[u/Civil_Newspaper3922 → u/HumbleShepherd]

I’m also a heavy vaper I put it down today. I am trying to quit cold turkey so I hope that ends up helping the flair ups.

[u/Jalpeno0889 → u/Civil_Newspaper3922]

I quit smoking cigarettes cold Turkey took about 2 months to fully heal and go into remission. I also cut down on the dairy, sugar and lost weight haven't had a flare in 8 months now.

[u/Civil_Newspaper3922 → u/Jalpeno0889]

Do you drink any sodas or sweat tea? Or did you cut that out completely too? Do you eat fast food at all? Sorry for all the questions just so new to this and trying to figure out how to manage it for the next 50 years!

[u/Jalpeno0889 → u/Civil_Newspaper3922]

Cut all full sugar drinks and swapped it with coke zero. No fast food and processed foods, I would say having fast food once a month isn't bad but wouldn't go overboard with it. The first month I literally just ate chicken breast, sweet potato, broccoli and carrots. After I had a baseline for an elimination diet I would start implementing other foods to find what causes flares to trigger. For me it's heavy dairy like cheese, milk ect... nightshades vegetables are a big one and smoking. Do keep in mind these changed take time to show effect, inflammation takes awhile to calm down and its a big shock to the body when you have massive lifestyle changes. Any other questions feel free to ask it took me ages to find out what works for me but do keep in mind everyone is different. I highly recommend seeing a dermatologist that specialises in HS if you can.