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by yusuf
The symptoms of hidradenitis suppurativa range from mild to severe.
It causes a mixture of boil-like lumps, blackheads, cysts, scarring and channels in the skin that leak pus.
The condition tends to start with blackheads, spots filled with pus and firm pea-sized lumps that develop in one place. The lumps will either disappear or rupture and leak pus after a few hours or days.
New lumps will then often develop in an area nearby. If these are not controlled with medicine, larger lumps may develop and spread. Narrow channels called sinus tracts also form under the skin that break out on the surface and leak pus.
Hidradenitis suppurativa can be very painful. The lumps develop on the skin in the following areas:
- around the groin and genitals
- in the armpits
- on the bottom and around the anus
- below the breasts
The lumps may also appear on the nape of the neck, waistband and inner thighs.
Some of the lumps may become infected with bacteria, causing a secondary infection that will need to be treated with antibiotics.
Many people with hidradenitis suppurativa also develop a pilonidal sinus, which is a small hole or “tunnel” in the skin at the top of the buttocks, where they divide (the cleft).