Skin
Hidradenitis Suppurativa
A chronic skin condition causing painful lumps and abscesses in skin folds like the armpits and groin — managed with gentle skin care, loose clothing, weight and inflammation support, and medical treatment for flares.
Also known as: Acne inversa, HS, Verneuil's disease, abscess (definition: collection of pus from infection)
📝 At a glance
Likely root causes: Inflammation and blockage of hair follicles in friction-prone skin folds; A genetic tendency (it often runs in families); Hormonal influences (often worsens around the reproductive years).
First thing to try: Wear loose, breathable clothing and keep affected folds cool and dry to cut friction and sweat.
See a doctor if: Painful lumps that recur, drain, or won't heal — for diagnosis and ongoing treatment
🔎 Start with the cause
Lasting relief rarely comes from covering a symptom. First find what is feeding the problem, change what you can, and then help the body do what it was designed to do — heal.
Likely root causes
- InflammationThe body's natural response to injury — like redness, swelling, or heat around a sore spot. More → and blockage of hair follicles in friction-prone skin folds
- A genetic tendency (it often runs in families)
- Hormonal influences (often worsens around the reproductive years)
- Strongly aggravated by smoking and by excess weight
- Friction, heat, and sweating in skin folds
Change what you can
- Wear loose, breathable clothing and keep affected folds cool and dry to cut friction and sweat.
- Use gentle, fragrance-free cleansing — avoid harsh scrubbing, which worsens it; a dilute antiseptic wash may help if a doctor advises.
- Apply warm compresses to a tender lump to ease pain and help it settle.
- Stop smoking and work toward a healthy weight — two of the most effective ways to reduce flares.
- Eat an anti-inflammatory whole-food diet; some people find reducing dairy and refined sugar helps.
- Don't squeeze or pop lumps — see a doctor for ones that need draining, and for ongoing treatment.
🌿 Then assist nature: remedies & protocols
With the cause being addressed, these are the actual things people do for this — ranked by the community. Vote ▲ on what helped you and ▼ on what didn't, and open How to do it for the steps. Each shows two quick signals: Evidence (how much science backs it) and Gentleness (how safe and in keeping with whole, natural health).
★ Start here — our first-line pick, pinned for safety
This gentle daily habit is the safest foundation for managing HS and works alongside medical treatment for flares.
How to do it ▾
Why it works: Hidradenitis suppurativa involves inflamed, blocked hair follicles in friction-prone skin; harsh scrubbing and irritating products add mechanical and chemical stress that worsens flares, so gentle cleansing removes one common trigger.
- Wash affected skin folds once or twice daily with a gentle, fragrance-free cleanser.
- Use hands or a very soft cloth — never a rough scrub brush or exfoliating pad.
- Pat skin dry gently with a clean towel rather than rubbing.
- Avoid scented soaps, lotions, and antiperspirants that contain alcohol, baking soda, or dyes.
- Ask a doctor whether an antimicrobial wash might help reduce bacteria in affected areas.
5 minutes per washing · 1-2 times daily
Caution: Never squeeze, pop, or dig at lumps — this spreads inflammation and worsens scarring. Harsh scrubbing or exfoliating makes HS worse, not better, even though the urge to 'clean it away' is understandable.
When to get help: A lump that becomes very hot, hard, rapidly spreading, or accompanied by fever may signal a serious infection needing urgent care.
Source: AAD self-care guidance for hidradenitis suppurativa
Comments & experiences ▾
Also helps — ranked by the community (vote to reorder)
A comforting, low-risk addition to daily care that reduces the friction and heat known to trigger flares.
How to do it ▾
Why it works: Friction and trapped heat and sweat in skin folds aggravate HS; loose fabric reduces rubbing, while gentle warmth can help a tender area feel more comfortable and encourage natural drainage.
- Choose loose-fitting, breathable cotton clothing, especially around the armpits, groin, and thighs.
- Avoid tight waistbands, underwire, or synthetic fabrics that trap heat and moisture.
- For a tender lump, soak a clean washcloth in warm water and apply it to the area for 10 minutes.
- Repeat the warm compress several times a day as needed for comfort.
- Stay in cool, air-conditioned spaces when possible during hot weather to reduce sweating.
10 minutes per compress; clothing choice is all-day · Compress as needed; loose clothing worn daily
Caution: Warm compresses should never be hot enough to burn sensitive, already-irritated skin. This does not replace medical treatment for painful, recurring, or draining lumps.
When to get help: Rapidly spreading redness, a hot and hard lump, or fever needs urgent medical care for possible serious infection.
Source: AAD self-care guidance for hidradenitis suppurativa
Comments & experiences ▾
A longer-term, high-impact lifestyle shift that works alongside medical treatment to reduce how often flares occur.
How to do it ▾
Why it works: Excess weight and smoking are strongly associated with HS severity, likely through inflammation and hormonal pathways; reducing both, alongside a whole-food diet, addresses drivers of flare frequency beyond skin care alone.
- Build meals around vegetables, fruits, legumes, and whole grains, limiting refined sugar and processed foods.
- Some people find reducing dairy helps their flares — track your own pattern over a few weeks.
- If you smoke, ask a doctor about a stop-smoking program, since quitting is one of the most effective steps for HS.
- Work toward a healthy weight gradually with your healthcare provider's guidance, since weight loss can meaningfully reduce flares.
- Stay consistently hydrated with water throughout the day to support overall skin health.
An ongoing lifestyle pattern · Daily
Caution: Weight loss and smoking cessation should be approached gradually and with medical support, not through extreme or rapid methods. Diet changes help some people but are not a cure and should not replace prescribed treatment for active disease.
When to get help: A rapidly spreading, hot, hard, or feverish area needs urgent medical care for possible serious infection.
Source: AAD self-care and diet guidance for hidradenitis suppurativa
Comments & experiences ▾
How the numbers work: a weighted voting system — trusted published sources cast endorsement votes for each protocol, and your ▲/▼ adds to them. Not medical advice.
🩺 When to see a doctor
- Painful lumps that recur, drain, or won't heal — for diagnosis and ongoing treatment
- A lump that becomes very hot, hard, or spreading, especially with fever
- Scarring, tunneling, or limited movement in the affected area
- The emotional weight of the condition — support and treatment are available
🌿 The seven pathways to health
Seven pathways for your hidradenitis suppurativa — tap the circle to check one off (saved on your device), or ask Remy for help.
“Disease is an effort of nature to free the system from conditions that result from a violation of the laws of health... In case of sickness 1cause should be ascertained, 2go to work intelligently to remove the disease. 3Unhealthful conditions should be changed, 4wrong habits corrected. 5Then nature is to be assisted in her effort 6to expel impurities and 7to re-establish right conditions in the system.”
🌿 Overview
Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a long-term inflammatory skin condition that produces tender lumps, boils, and abscesses in areas where skin rubs together — the armpits, groin, under the breasts, and the buttocks. Over time these can drain, recur, and leave tracts and scarring. It is not caused by poor hygiene and is not contagious; it's an inflammatory problem of the hair follicles and nearby glands. While it can be stubborn, a steady combination of gentle skin care, loose breathable clothing, reducing friction and inflammation, not smoking, and medical treatment for flares makes a real difference in comfort and frequency of outbreaks.
HS begins when hair follicles in friction-prone skin folds become blocked and inflamed. The trapped material ruptures under the skin, triggering painful, deep nodules and abscesses; with repeated cycles, the body can form interconnected tunnels (sinus tracts) and scarring. Flares can be miserable and are often worsened by heat, sweat, tight clothing, friction, and smoking.
Living well with HS is about reducing the triggers and inflammationThe body's natural response to injury — like redness, swelling, or heat around a sore spot. More → day to day. Loose, breathable clothing and keeping folds cool and dry reduce friction and sweat. Gentle, fragrance-free cleansing (some use a dilute antiseptic wash on a doctor's advice) keeps the skin calm without harsh scrubbing, which makes it worse. Warm compresses ease a tender lump and help it settle. Stopping smoking and reaching a healthy weight are two of the most powerful things known to reduce flares, and an anti-inflammatoryA food or habit that helps calm swelling and redness in the body. More → whole-food diet helps many people.
HS is genuinely a medical condition, and a doctor's involvement matters — treatments range from topicalSomething you put on your skin rather than swallow. More → and oral medications to procedures for stubborn areas. The home measures here are supportive companions to that care, not a replacement, and the emotional toll of a chronic, sensitive-area condition deserves compassion and support too.
Common signs
- Painful, tender lumps under the skin in folds — armpits, groin, under breasts, buttocks
- Lumps that may enlarge, drain fluid or pus, and recur in the same spots
- Blackhead-like double pores in affected areas
- Over time, rope-like scars or connecting tunnels under the skin
- Flares triggered by heat, sweat, friction, and stress
🍃 Supporting foods & habits
The gentle, everyday foods and supports that help in the background — secondary to the active remedies above. Vote on what helped you.
A warm, moist compress over a tender lump eases pain and helps it settle and drain naturally.900
Turmeric in food supplies curcumin to support the body's anti-inflammatory response.820
How the numbers work: this is a weighted voting system — every published book or article recommending a remedy counts as an endorsement vote, and your ▲/▼ counts too. Not medical advice. *Ties are broken by our editor score (sources, safety, simplicity, cost, lifestyle fit, eight-laws alignment).
🍽️ Eating to help
Food is one of the gentlest medicines — small, steady changes help most.
Favor these
- Anti-inflammatory whole foods: vegetables, fruit, whole grains, legumes
- Omega-3 plant fats (flaxseed, walnuts)
- Plenty of water
- A pattern that supports gradual, healthy weight loss if needed
Go easy on
- Refined sugar and highly processed foods
- Dairy and high-glycemic foods, which some people find trigger flares
- Alcohol
Many people with HS notice fewer flares with an anti-inflammatory diet and weight loss, though responses are individual.
⚖️ Good to know
- Don't squeeze, pop, or dig at lumps — it spreads inflammation and worsens scarring.
- A rapidly spreading, very hot, hard, or feverish area may be a serious infection needing urgent care.
- Harsh scrubbing, hair removal that irritates the area, and tight clothing all aggravate HS.
- Long-standing, severe HS deserves specialist care — it is treatable and shouldn't just be endured.
⚕️ What a doctor may offerConventional treatments for this condition — for your information.Show ▾
RemedyRank's heart is natural healing — and honest information. Here is what conventional medical care commonly involves for this condition, listed to inform, never to promote. Decisions about treatment belong with you and your own physician.
HS is treated by stage — topical and oral antibiotics, hormonal therapy, biologics for moderate-to-severe disease, and procedures for stubborn areas.
Commonly offered
- Topical and oral antibiotics for inflammation and infection–
- Hormonal treatments in some patients–
- Biologic medications (e.g. TNF inhibitors) for moderate-to-severe disease–
- Incision and drainage, deroofing, or surgery for persistent tracts–
Worth knowing
- Early treatment helps prevent scarring and tunneling.
- Smoking and excess weight reduce treatment success.
- Severe disease needs specialist (dermatology) management.
👍/👎 shares whether a treatment helped you — community experience, not medical advice. For full professional details, see the sources under “Learn more” below.
📜 A note from history
Before its causes were understood, recurring abscesses in the body folds were treated with warm poultices and antiseptic herbal washes to draw and soothe — gentle comfort that still complements today's medical treatments.
📚 Learn more
Sources for further reading. These open in a new tab.
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