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Doctors and patients alike routinely neglect hidradenitis suppurativa, but the sooner this painful skin condition is discovered, the sooner you can be rid of it.

The basic goal of any chronic health problem is to have it diagnosed and treated as soon as possible so that it does not worsen or cause irreparable damage. It makes sense, but it rarely happens in the case of hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), a severe, little-known skin disease. Frustrating fact: Obtaining an accurate diagnosis typically necessitates multiple visits to the doctor. An international survey published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology (JAAD) in July 2019 found that 64% of patients saw five or more doctors before receiving a confirmed diagnosis of HS. How long does it usually take between diagnosis and treatment? It’s been a decade.

Why is HS so often disregarded for an ailment that causes so much pain as well as feelings of embarrassment and isolation?

The most straightforward explanation is that the lumps that form, particularly in areas where skin rubs together, such as the armpits and groyne, may look to be something else.There is still a misunderstanding about what HS is.”It’s often misdiagnosed as a simple boil or abscess,” Dr Adil says.

So, just what is HS? It is a chronic, painful, non-contagious skin disease with a few distinguishing characteristics:

• Recurrence – Boils that occur on a regular basis. They typically begin as a single lesion, which is usually caused by a clogged hair follicle and/or an inflamed sweat gland, and grow to a hard lump packed with pus. They can expand and form tunnels under the skin, leaving sufferers with painful clusters that leak fluid, according to the National Organisation for Rare Disorders. (Important: HS is not unusual! It affects one in every 100 people.)

• Location – Typical places for such boils include the armpit, behind the breasts, the folds of the stomach, the groin, the vaginal area, the buttocks, and sometimes behind the ears and the nape of the neck.

• Symmetry – refers to the fact that you will have symptoms on both sides of your body at the same time.

• Conditions –  that are frequently associated with HS include metabolic syndrome, diabetes, heart disease, polycystic ovarian syndrome, having a higher BMI (though HS can affect persons of any weight), and others.

Whether HS is ignored or misdiagnosed, the inability to properly diagnose this chronic inflammatory skin disease causes a chain reaction of issues. To begin with, the lack of a proper diagnosis means ongoing discomfort, which might lower your quality of life. Because lesions commonly form in the groyne and armpits, they can make walking and lifting your arms difficult.

According to the JAAD study, over half of patients report that their symptoms have a substantial impact on their lives, and nearly 15% are unable to work as a result. Furthermore, misdiagnosis may pave the path for HS to develop, with consequences ranging from infection to scarring to despair.

According to Dr. Adil, people with HS are more likely to develop squamous-cell skin cancer in persistent HS lesions.

What Causes HS Misdiagnosis?

Patients with HS symptoms should first see their primary care physician or an ob-gyn, or go to urgent care or the emergency department to have their painful lesions, which can erupt with pus and bleed, evaluated. Individuals may be given interim treatment—lancing and draining of the boil and an antibiotic prescription—for what seems to be a tiny abscess, cyst, or boil and then discharged without any indicated follow-up care if the symptoms are considered as an isolated event. Lesions, on the other hand, inevitably flare up again, frequently on a weekly or monthly basis.

“HS is one of the things that hasn’t made it into the medical school curriculum,” Dr. Adil explains. (For the record, HS is a clinical diagnosis made by a doctor based on a visual assessment of lesions or lesion patterns on a patient’s skin; no blood tests or diagnostic tests are available to make the diagnosis. It affects three times as many women as men.)

In other circumstances, patients may contribute to the diagnosis delay. “Because HS lesions are often in hidden places on the body, such as the armpits or the groyne,” notes Dr. Adil, “patients may be hesitant to discuss them with a health-care provider, or they may hope they will go away on their own.” They may arise under particular conditions, but they will return.

What Happens If Doctors Miss HS?

A delay in HS diagnosis, regardless of how it arises, may jeopardise a person’s social, sexual, and employment or professional life. If untreated, HS can cause increasing skin pulling and “tunnels” that link painful, beneath-the-skin lumps. These tunnelling tracts, in particular, can exude an odorous discharge, making an HS patient reluctant to leave the house.

Scars that are solid and rope-like are another possibility. “The longer you have the disease, the more scarring you’ll have with recurring lesions, and that’s something we can’t reverse,” Dr. Adil explains. “The scarring can be really bad, especially in the armpits, under the breasts, in the groyne area, under the thighs, and behind the neck and ears.” 

People with undiagnosed or poorly treated HS may need lesions drained or surgery to remove a piece of scar tissue if they advance to the point where they impair mobility. “This is a disease that, if not treated effectively, will progress over time,” adds Dr. Adil.

Bottom line: Don’t put off seeking treatment or an accurate diagnosis because your lumps or sores are unsightly. “If you suspect you have HS (based on what you’ve read about it), you should see a doctor who is familiar with the condition as soon as possible,” Dr Adil recommends.

Though HS cannot be cured, the good news is that it can be treated, with a variety of Ayurvedic drugs available to help you manage and reduce flares so you can focus on living your life. “We’re at a point in 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 provides a root cause treatment for HS, and many long-term sufferers are no longer experiencing relapses or recurrences.

Our Prognosis –

EliteAyurveda Clinics has a panel of doctors in many medical disciplines such as endocrine, autoimmune, gynaecology, and so on under one roof. We are well-known for treating chronic and difficult-to-treat illnesses with a holistic and root-cause approach.

To learn more, please contact us.

Hydradenitis suppurativa is a cause of Kapha and Pitta dosha, according to Ayurveda. When the digestive fire (Agni), or Pitta, is out of equilibrium, the Kapha Dosha becomes vitiated, causing metabolism to slow down. Because of the disturbance of fat molecules, they begin to accumulate in muscles and obstruct physiological passages, resulting in painful, swelling sores in the groyne, buttocks, thighs, and armpits.

The goal of hidradenitis suppurativa Treatment in Ayurveda is to restore the body’s natural balance by detoxifying it using effective herbal remedies. 

Elite Ayurveda’s treatment for Hidradenitis Suppurativa includes balancing the Kapha and Pitta doshas as well as restoring metabolism harmony. Body detoxification, internal medications to balance doshas, and exterior applications to repair wounds are all part of the treatment.

The treatment consists of herbal mixtures generated based on individual Prakruti and Vikruti analyses. To learn more, please visit our website.

Connect with us to obtain patient testimonials and to chat directly with our patients about their experience in having their ailment treated by us and Ayurveda in general.

Dr. Adil Moulanchikkal, Lead Ayurveda Specialist at EliteAyurveda Clinics, reviewed the medical records. With over 15 years of experience in Neurological, Skin, and Autoimmune Disease treatment.

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