I have been having some chronic unexplained health problems since June, and in preparation for my specialist's referral to Mayo, I put together a document with ALL my symptoms, including those likely unrelated. One of those was:

Frequent ingrown hairs in genital/rectal region, without hair removal: Started around 2009; abscess culture showed OSRA; recurrent although smaller problems since. Almost always have at least one ingrown hair in bikini area regardless of any recent hair removal of any kind; painful, inflamed red bumps that “pop” white pus and/or blood.

Happen to have three at the moment, and while looking up what the difference is when it pops blood vs. pus, I read about hidradenitis suppurativa for the first time. It honestly never occurred to me that this could be unusual or an actual health problem until I had started writing that list of symptoms and realized it still happened even when I didn't do any hair removal down there (my very first one, which was infected, the primary care had just told me it was an infected ingrown hair, and so that's what I've assumed they are always, and being in such a .... private... location, I've never mentioned it again/to any other doctor). After reading your stories, it sounds like I may not actually have it, or I have maybe an earlier stage, but it's at least inspired me to look into it further and realize it's NOT normal.

One thing I am curious about -- does anyone who's been diagnosed with HS have an elevated CRP and/or ESR (inflammatory markers)?

A resource I found helpful/informative I want to share: https://www.hs-foundation.org/.

Some things I noticed mentioned in these posts are reinforced on that website: "Current studies indicate that HS is more common in females than males, at a rate of approximately 3:1." Many of the other illnesses experienced by the folks in these posts are commonly associated with HS, including PCOS, thyroid disease and diabetes; to confirm what somewhat else postulated, "hormonal imbalance has been suggested as a potential source of development for this disease as well." They mention Clindamycin cream as being effective like someone else noted. Just a lot of good informartion, including a physician search that I fouond a doctor on to call tomorrow and try to schedule an appointment.

Hope everyone's doing well!