Many myths surround this chronic skin condition. Our experts clear up the confusion.
You’re not alone if you’re surprised by a hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) diagnosis. This inflammatory skin illness generates painful bumps, or nodules, that resemble pimples, boils, or infected hair follicles at first. People frequently treat the conditions it resembles and receive little relief. The truth is that HS is caused in part by an immune system overreaction to germs that normally occur in and around hair follicles, resulting in nodules, gushing sores, and deep scars. HS is not a disease. “It’s amazing how many patients suffer for a long time and are unaware of their diagnosis,” says Dr Adil, Lead Ayurveda Skin Specialist, EliteAyurveda.
What Exactly Happens With HS?
If you don’t have HS, someone you know does—according to the National Library of Medicine, it affects around one in every 100 people. Hidradenitis suppurativa frequently appears in adults in their teens, twenties, or thirties and can worsen if left untreated. It primarily affects body areas where skin touches skin, such as the armpits and groin, and tends to recur in the same locations. It may initially resemble terrible acne or inflamed hair follicles. As the disease advances, nodules can turn into abscesses, which fill with pus and become painful, or chronic tunneling wounds, which leak pus and form deep scars.
How Do Doctors Diagnose HS?
There is no laboratory test for hidradenitis suppurativa. Instead, your dermatologist will check for “draining wounds in natural folds in the body such as the armpits, groin, around the anus, under the breasts, and beneath the abdomen,” according to Dr. Adil. You may only have one uncomfortable nodule if you have milder HS. As hidradenitis suppurativa worsens, you may develop a cluster of pus-filled nodules. Because the appearance of HS can be disfiguring, the disorder has a stigma; as a result, there are numerous beliefs regarding what HS is and how you develop it.
Myth: Hidradenitis Suppurativa is contagious.
Measles and chickenpox are two contagious infections that generate painful lumps on the skin. So it’s reasonable that some individuals believe HS is also spread through human interaction. However, HS is not at all communicable. While the precise etiology of HS is unknown, genetics is thought to have a part, and there is no guaranteed way to prevent it. It’s probably related to how the immune system interacts with hair follicles and the bacteria that live in and around them. You can’t get HS by being around someone who has it or by contacting their skin or other surfaces they’ve come into contact with.
Myth: Sexual Transmission of Hidradenitis Suppurativa
Because it frequently develops in the groin area, where skin against skin rubbing exacerbates symptoms, some people wrongly believe HS is a sexually transmitted infection. And because pus-filled sores are a defining feature of herpes, an infectious condition spread through sexual activity, HS gets a bad rap. HS cannot be “caught,” even when you are up close and personal with a partner who has HS night after night. It is also not spread by contact with sperm or saliva. “Contact with bodily fluids will not cause transmission,” says Dr Adil.
Myth – Hidradenitis Suppurativa Is Just Bad Acne, Right?
It’s easy to mix up HS and acne. Acne, on the other hand, arises in various sites than hidradenitis suppurativa, such as the armpits, groin, and buttocks, such as the face, neck, back, and chest. Furthermore, HS lesions are more prone to develop into chronic tunnels that drain continuously or repeatedly for months, as opposed to most acne lesions, which heal in a month or two. People avoid therapy because they confuse HS with acne and other skin disorders. “Many patients have had boils, cysts, and nodules on common areas of the body for many years and have not considered it being HS,” Dr. Adil explains.
Myth: Poor hygiene contributes to HS
And now for one of the most common misconceptions: Many individuals believe that HS is caused by inadequate hygiene, especially as it advances and foul-smelling pus flows from burst abscesses. The truth is that HS is caused by an overactive immune system and has nothing to do with hygiene, although genetics may also play a part. Other risk factors for HS include obesity and smoking, however the specific association is unknown. Meanwhile, forgetting to bathe and cleanse your face frequently or properly isn’t a concern. “It’s a common misconception that not being clean causes HS,” Dr. Adil explains.
Myth: Hidradenitis Suppurativa Only Affects Women
This is false: According to the Academy of Dermatology, women are not the only ones who acquire HS, albeit they are nearly three times more likely than men. Women are also diagnosed at an earlier age than men, for unknown reasons. Race is also a factor. According to the HS Foundation, those who are Black or multiracial are much more likely to have HS. Gynecologists occasionally diagnose and treat HS since they are trained to look for it during annual exams, but this is not simply a female disease.
Myth: You Can’t Treat HS
This misunderstanding likely arose as a result of many people mistaking HS for other skin issues and trying the wrong things to make it go away, then concluding incorrectly that it can’t be treated when nothing works. It is possible to eliminate or change the bacteria that cause an overactive immune response, as well as reduce inflammation, pain from nodules, remove damaged tissue, and lessen the frequency and intensity of flares. One of the most common misconceptions concerning HS is that “there isn’t much that can be done about it,” according to Dr Adil, Lead Ayurveda Skin Specialist, EliteAyurveda.
“We’re in a time where we have more treatment options than ever to treat the disease,” says Dr Adil, “and the earlier we can diagnose people, the better off they’ll be.”
Ayurveda has a root cause treatment for HS with many long time sufferers now living without any relapse or recurrence of HS.
Fact: You Can Get Help
It’s easy to become discouraged, especially if you’ve tried and failed numerous times to improve your symptoms before realizing you have HS. “It is a disease that has an incredible burden on patients’ overall quality of life, including daily activities like walking, wearing sleeveless clothes, sexual activity, and sports,” Dr. Adil adds. However, there are several things you may do to improve and reduce the frequency of your symptoms. Seeing a specialist as soon as possible is critical, as treatment is most successful before HS worsens and becomes more severe, according to Dr Adil, Lead Ayurveda Skin Specialist, EliteAyurveda. Most essential, do not struggle alone.
Our Outlook –
According to Ayurveda, hidradenitis suppurativa is a cause of Kapha and Pitta dosha. When the digestive fire (Agni), or Pitta, is out of balance, the Kapha Dosha becomes vitiated, which slows down metabolism. Due to the disruption of fat molecules, they start to build up in muscles and impede bodily passageways, causing painful, swollen sores in the groin, buttocks, thighs, and armpits.
In Ayurveda, hidradenitis suppurativa Treatment is to restore the body’s natural equilibrium by detoxifying it with potent herbal therapies.
The treatment for Hidradenitis Suppurativa at Elite Ayurveda comprises balancing the Kapha and Pitta doshas, as well as providing harmony to the metabolism. The treatment comprises body detoxification, internal drugs to balance doshas, and external applications to heal scars.
The treatment involves combinations of herbs created based on individual Prakruti and Vikruti analysis. Visit our website to know more
Connect with us to get our patient testimonials and also to speak with our patients directly about their experience in getting their disease treated by us and by Ayurveda as a whole.
Medically reviewed by Dr Adil Moulanchikkal, Lead Ayurveda Specialist at EliteAyurveda Clinics. With over 15 years of experience in treating Neurological, Skin & Autoimmune Diseases.
