Isabel (St Vincent & The Grenadines) on 07/04/2015:
I started to get boils in both armpits after getting chikungunya virus from an infected mosquito bite.
I live in the tropics where the virus swept through last summer causing thousands of people to become ill.
This started September 2014, and has caused me terrible joint pain, styes, skin rash, and the boils. I bought some tea tree oil soap which has helped a lot, I bathe with it, rinse and dry thoroughly, then rub soap on the boils and dab on talc. They seem to be going now, still hard lumps but no pus. I also drink a tea made with fresh grated ginger and turmeric, you can use dried powder, cinnamon, honey and lime juice plus hot water. I have taken 4 types of antibiotics which did nothing, doctors seem disinterested and have offered no advice or medication. There is no cure or treatment for chikungunya virus, only painkillers, the effects can last for years, I had never heard of HS until I started researching the cause of boils/lesions in the armpit area. Hope there is a treatment soon for all the people suffering from HS.
Jude (Manila, Philippines) on 08/28/2012:
I'm not medically diagnosed with HS but I think I have it from research on the net. I'm only in my first year of frequent flareups that drove me to research a little about it and luckily (I just realized this after learning that others have suffered from this much, much longer than I have) I discovered accidentally what you may call a "deterrent" in Acne soap. I only discovered this because I've been using this soap for my face for years and one time, when I had an inflamed lump, I just accidentally picked up the Acne soap from the soap dish and used it to clean the lump. I noticed within hours the inflammation lessened. With more frequency of use the next few days, it settled down and expressed a little bit of pus on its own but without pain and only left me with a bit of hyperpigmentation but no scar. Since then, I've been using the soap to my inner thigh and armpit areas (where I get them frequently) every time I take a bath and extra more when I feel a swelling starting up. Sometimes it does not even express pus out and just resolve entirely without hyperpigmentation or scarring. I hope this helps.
