Hidradenitis suppurativa (hi-drad-uh-NIE-tis sup-yoo-ruh-TIE-vuh) is a long-term condition that causes lumps and bumps to come and go on the skin. These lumps fill up with pus and/or blood, causing intense pain and discomfort. Temporary relief usually comes when the lumps leak their contents. Over time, these lumps can fill up again, leak their contents, and this cycle can repeat like this.
The official working definition of HS is as follows:
“Hidradenitis suppurativa is a chronic, inflammatory, recurrent, debilitating skin disease of the hair follicle that usually presents after puberty with painful, deep-seated, inflamed lesions in the apocrine gland-bearing areas of the body, most commonly the axillae, inguinal and anogenital regions”.
Dessau definition, 1st International Conference on Hdradenitis suppurativa/Acne inversa, March 30-April 1, 2006, Dessau, Germany. [ Kurzen et al 2008 and/or Zouboulis et al, 2015]
