I’m posting my story for support more than anything else, as I notice many of you are in your late teens and early twenties, and have had less than 10 “flare ups”. I am a 33 year old woman who has suffered from this condition since roughly age 12.
My first experience was the MOST traumatic. It took about a month for the ( blister) to form completely. The pain was Unbearable after the bump reached the size of a marble, I spent 3 weeks practically living in a bath of HOT water with epsom salt. I could not walk, sit or lie in any position without extreme PAIN, actually crawling down the hallway between bedroom and bath. After an entire month of suffering the boil finally reached the size of a golf ball, and popped draining the most foul smelling fluid imaginable for the next week and a half. I knew what the condition was, and various ways of treating it because My father had suffered from the condition as well.
At that time I discussed surgery with my gp, and was told that the infection had to be in the active stage for surgery to be done. (are you kidding? I couldn’t even wear clothing when I had a “bubble” because of the pain it caused.) Then the GP informed me that 30% of people continue to suffer from the condition,, post- op. no WAY I’m going through that for a maybe.
So I suffered through the cysts cycle 3-7 times per year until I became pregnant @ 23, having it lanced and packed only once when i was about 18….for me, That was the WORST. It’s bad enough to be in pain, but to have someone tie you down and dig at the sore? I went home and removed the packing myself.(don’t recommend that). After the birth of my first child I noticed that the flare ups were decreasing in severity, duration, and frequency, though still very painful. Over the course of the next ten years this pattern continued.
Now it is more tolerable. there seems to be some sort of canal (sinus?) an opening from the cyst to the surface which eliminates the blister formation. I take care to wash the area daily with an exfoliating glove. I am now able to tolerate the slight discomfort (which has been constant since the first flare up) and control the seepage with a simple bandaid. Long and short of it I guess, is that If you opt to “live with it”, although they never “go away”.. the condition does become less disabling, and more manageable over time.
To help speed up the process, I recommend HOT epsom salt baths, antibiotics if available, and there is also an ointment called Icthammol. Icthammol looks yucky, and smells gross ( not as bad as the seepage though)and is available over the counter in a 10% concentration at most pharmacies. It is a drawing salve and speeds up the bubble popping process immensely.Higher concentrations are also available, ask your pharmacist. it also works great on severe acne, boils, and even splinters. Whether you opt to chance surgery, or tough it out, I wish you all the best.