Diagnosis and treatment of HS

Diagnosis

To diagnose this skin condition or disease, the dermatologist will look closely at the skin for some symptoms of hidradenitissuppurativa.

If the breakouts are leaking fluid, the dermatologist may have to take a swab of the fluid to a slide, to detect for infection. He may also recommend a blood test.

Treatments of hidradenitissuppurativa

There are varieties of treatment options for hidradenitissuppurativa, including medications and surgery. Your dermatologist may recommend surgery as a treatment option if your case is severe, or if other treatment options have failed

Depending on the type of treatment option, the treatment should be able to help HS patients with the following:

• Reduce or clear breakouts
• Prevent the appearance of new breakouts
• Get rid of scars and tunnel in the affected area of the skin
• Prevent other complications.

Dermatologists often use the following medications for treatment

• Antibiotics: antibiotics are medications that help in fighting infections. These drugs are quite effective in reducing inflammation, fight infections and can also help to prevent new breakouts. These antibiotics often come in different types.Your doctor choice of antibiotics will strictly depend on how severe your outbreaks are.
• Acne washes and medicines: there are also acne treatments that you can buy without a prescription. However, using this treatment alone may not necessarily clear HS.
• Corticosteroids:your doctor or dermatologist may have to inject this medicine into the bumps. This can help reduce inflammation, swelling and pain in the infected area. You may get these shots once a month for up to 3 months. In severe cases, your dermatologist may recommend taking steroids by mouth.
• Bleach baths: if a bleach bath is right for you, your dermatologist might recommend one for you,your dermatologist may also recommend taking 5-10 minutes bleach baths. This can be done on your own, in your bathtub at home.
• Biologics: the FDA has approved biologics as a treatment for HS. These medications improve your immune system and buildyour body defencesystem against germs and infection. It includes getting a shot at either your doctor’s place or sometimes, through DIYs. However, in cases where you have to get the drug administered through an IV to your veins, it should be done at the hospital or clinic.

These drugs may include:

• Adalimumab
• Infliximab
• Anakinra

Although biologics can clear hidradenitissuppurativa for a long time, they can result incertain side effects, so they are often used for severe conditions.

• Diabetes drug: diabetes drug like metformin can help treat adult-onset diabetes. These drugs are quite effective in treating people with HS as well as other health condition called metabolic syndrome.
• Hormone therapy: home therapy like birth control pills is quite effective for women with HS. Medicines like spironolactone, or other medicines that regulate hormones can be given, to help decrease painsand the number of fluids from the breakouts
• Radiation therapy:These treatments are rarely used in recent cases, as it exposes the body to radiation. Regardless, they are quite effective in clearing HS. If you must use it, be sure to speak to your doctor or dermatologists about the short-term and long-term risks to your body.
• Methotrexate:It is commonly used to treat cancer and some severe medical conditions, such as extreme psoriasis. It helps in improving the immune system and can also help in controlling HS in some patients.

Surgical treatment for HS

If your bumps grow deep into the skin, such that other medicines are less effective in treating HS, your dermatologist may recommend any of the following surgical procedure:

• Excision:This involves cutting the HS and some normal-looking skin. They are often used in some specific situation, where the wound is deep. Thus, the wound needs to be covered with skin removed from another part of the body or skin flap. After this surgical procedure, HS will not develop on the treated area but can develop in another nearby area.
• Laser surgery: Laser surgeries are also effective in clearing HS, and can be used in clearing and deep HS breakouts, especially in cases where other treatment options and procedures are less effective. The treatment is very effective, because it helps in destroying hair follicles in the skin.
• Deroofing: this surgery is more effective for patients with painful HS that keeps returning continuously. The surgeon will most certainly turn deep and painful HS into scars during this process.
• Drain or incision: During the surgery, your doctor or dermatologists drains lesions, or cuts them out entirely. Although the HS can return later, the surgical method can easily bring about relief to the affected patient.

Generally, not all treatment can work for every patient with HS. Sometimes, you may have to try various treatments to find out what works perfectly for your condition, depending on the severity of the issue.

Reach out to us for treatment options so our expert dermatologists can provide suitable and safe treatment method for you.