Hey everyone. I’m brand new here and I’m so excited to have found this subreddit. I am a 29 year old woman and I have had these bumps/boils since I was in middle school. However, I’ve only recently started talking about them due to feeling embarrassed about having these pus filled bumps all over my groin/upper thigh area. I have yet to get an official diagnosis, but I’m fairly certain that HS is what I’m suffering from.

I knew about the possibility of getting these cysts bc when I was in elementary school my mom got a really bad infection in one of hers. She had to spend some time in the hospital while it healed. So, when I got my first one I knew that’s what it was. It was on my upper right thigh towards the inside of my leg (sorry if that description sucks). It was super painful and it ruptured one day in class. I quickly went to the restroom and saw that there was dark red blood coming out of it. Luckily I had a bandaid and was able to keep my pants from getting a huge blood stain. From then on I would get them in my groin and on my upper thighs.

I’ve been reading about different treatment options. I’m scared of taking medicines for it bc, in my mind, once I take medications my natural immune system will not fight them off, and I could start getting them more often. Idk, am I way off in thinking that?

Another thing I wonder about is how to get rid of scarring. The scars were the worst part for me bc they look so ugly. I’ve been so ashamed of my body that I even avoided intimacy with people bc I didn’t want them seeing my scars or active lesions. I avoided it so much that I didn’t lose my virginity until I was 27 years old. It’s completely affected my sex life bc how am I gonna feel sexy when I’ve got bandages on my lady parts?? 😩

Anyway, I’ve kind of gone on a bit of a rant here. So if you’ve read this far I appreciate you and I would love to hear any advice you have for me.