Mel (Charlotte, Nc, USA) on 11/04/2012
I was just diagnosed with HS this year after dealing with what I thought were ingrown hairs in the groin area for over 12 years and I'm only 26 and healthy otherwise. My Dr. prescribed me antibiotics but when I lost my job and health insurance I couldn't afford the medicine. I didn't want to be on meds for the rest of my life & my body responds much better to NATURAL Remedies. Around that time, I also had persistent dandruff, the dermatologist prescribed me a medicated oil treatment that did absolutely nothing to help.
I purchased some TEA TREE OIL from WALMART for about $4.00 to mix with my shampoo to treat the dandruff. After reading a few posts on here, I used it on a particularly large, painful sore that would NOT open or drain after weeks.
I saw results WITHIN HOURS. No exaggeration, within HOURS the "cyst" had gone down in size noticably. By the second day, it had shrunk nearly 1/2 of its original size and pain was nearly 80% gone. I'm on my third day and I can't even feel it. I had no drainage, no pain and it is nearly gone. All I did was saturate the tip of a cotton swab (the kind you clean your ears with) with Tea Tree Oil and rub it gently onto the area. I covered the surrounding area for good measure. I did it twice per day and the results are amazing!
I read another post about the connection between HS and Yeast. At first I was really skeptical because my Dr. told me that the disorder is caused by inflammation of sweat glands which "traps" in bacteria which is naturally occuring in the body. Once it gets trapped, she explained, it festers and grows out of control and gets infected, causing these sores. But after seeing how well the Tea Tree Oil worked, I'm wondering if that "bacteria" she mentioned was a generalization and could include the naturally occuring yeast on/in? our skin? Tea Tree Oil, aside from moisturizing is an Anti-Fungal. It is helping with my dandruff, and it worked miracles on my HS sores. So, I wonder if there is not a connection.
I also saw some people treating it with a popular homeopathic yeast infection treatment. I used that same kind for a long time but never thought to monitor the sores with its use. I may start that up and see if it helps.
With all of this information, it makes sense that certain foods, stress and illness could cause a flare up of HS. It could be that those foods, situations, etc are causing inflammation which is trapping the naturally occurring bacteria in our bodies and BAM! Sores all over the place.
Mike (Tulsa, Ok) on 07/14/2011
I had to have a sulfa-based antibiotic to cure my last swollen node on my groin. After wearing tight synthetic workout undershorts for several hours (which I won't do again), I had another case in the same groin area and felt the swollen gland grow to the size of a nickle. I read someone's suggestion on this site that Tea Tree Oil may work and I applied it to the swollen node three times a day and it has gone away in 5 days. I am thrilled. I suppose catching it early helps. I purchased Tea Tree Oil from a beauty supply.
Sonia (Christchurch, New Zealand) on 03/24/2009
Since I started using Tea tree Oil I have not had many problems at all. Prior to this I had new lesions coming up all the time one after the other.
Tina (Indianapolis, IN) on 12/28/2007
I was Diagnosed with hidradenitis July 06. I have had terrible breakouts in the groin area from my bikini area to my anal area. I have tried everything to stop the breakouts, even bathing 3 or more times a day nothing has worked. Recently I went to a local natural food store and read a natural remedy book were it stated Tea Tree oil, pure tea tree oil will take out the staph from boils and soothe the pain. I tried it several times so far so good. It has a scent of eucalyptus and the same drying action like alcohol. So far it works