Hidradenitis Suppurativa Treatments – What 500+ Studies Miss

My name is Jaap, and I am a biomedical scientist that also used to live with severe Hidradenitis Suppurativa, the kind that takes over your life. Today, I am completely asymptomatic because I learned how to heal Hidradenitis Suppurativa from within. More importantly, I’ve had the privilege of helping many other individuals with HS get their lives back too.

HS Research Is Booming. So Why Can’t We Cure It?

It’s a fact that over 600 scientific papers on HS will be published this year alone. Thousands of brilliant scientists are dedicated to studying it. So, why does it feel like we’re still stuck? If you’re wondering how to treat Hidradenitis Suppurativa and feel like you’re running into dead ends, you’re not alone. In this post, we’re going to dive into the shocking gap between this mountain of research and actual, lasting healing. More importantly, we’ll uncover where the real solutions might be hiding, the ones that gave me my life back.

Figure 1. Number of cited peer reviewed articles with hidradenitis suppurativa in the abstract, data scraped from pubmed database.

A Golden Era of Hidradenitis suppurativa Research

You might be surprised to learn that HS isn’t new. The condition was first described way back in the 1830s by a French surgeon named Alfred-Armand-Louis-Marie Velpeau. He documented cases of this recurring, inflammatory skin condition with its tell-tale painful nodules and abscesses. A few decades later, in 1864, another surgeon, Aristide Verneuil, officially linked the inflammation to the sweat glands, giving it the name that would evolve into Hidradenitis Suppurativa.

For over 150 years after that, HS remained in the shadows of medical research. Looking at the data, the first paper to appear in online medical databases was in 1947. For the next 50 years, maybe only a handful of studies were published each year.

But then, around the year 2000, everything changed.

The research didn’t just climb; it exploded. We shot up from just 15 papers a year to 100, then 300, and now we’re on track for over 600 papers in a single year (see figure above). There is so much data and we have great review articles such as this one. We are, without a doubt, in a golden era of HS research. There’s more information, more data, and more scientists studying this condition than ever before in history.

So, Where’s the Cure? The Problem with Modern HS Treatment

With all this brainpower, funding, and research, you’d think we’d be incredibly close to a cure, right? You’d expect our doctors to have definitive answers and effective, long-term solutions.

But that just isn’t the reality for so many people living with HS. Instead, we’re often told to just “manage” our symptoms. We’re put on a never-ending cycle of antibiotics and biologics, which often come with a host of difficult side effects and are prescribed for life. When those treatments inevitably fail for many, the next step can be brutal and life-altering surgeries. The problem is, just like the medications, surgeries don’t get to the root of the issue either. If the underlying cause isn’t addressed and balance isn’t restored in the body, the symptoms will inevitably return, even after the surgery.

What’s really going on here? It’s an uncomfortable truth, but we have to talk about it.

A significant portion of this research is funded and focused on one thing: developing patentable drugs. These drugs are designed to target and suppress symptoms, not address the root cause of the inflammation. The pharmaceutical industry operates on a business model that, frankly, profits from lifelong patients, not from one-time cures. A simple, effective solution found in something like diet or lifestyle and cheap natural preparations just isn’t as profitable.

How to Treat HS: The Missing Piece of the Puzzle

And that brings us to the most critical, missing piece in the conversation about how to treat HS. While scientists are busy mapping complex cytokine pathways, developing JAK-STAT inhibitors, and manipulating the microbiome, they are almost completely ignoring the most powerful tool we have at our disposal: our own diet and lifestyle.

This isn’t just a theory or wishful thinking. This is how I personally healed my own Hidradenitis Suppurativa after suffering with it for years. It’s how I finally stopped the flares, healed my skin, and took back control of my body and my life. It’s also the same framework I now use to help countless others achieve the same lasting relief.

The focus of modern medicine is incredible, but it’s looking through a microscope. It often misses the bigger picture, that our bodies have an innate capacity to heal if we give them the right conditions.

Key Takeaways

• Research is Exploding: We are in a golden era of HS research, with over 600 scientific papers expected this year alone, yet a cure remains elusive.
• Symptom-Focused Model: Much of the current research is focused on developing patentable drugs (like antibiotics and biologics) that manage symptoms rather than addressing the root causes of HS.
• The Lifestyle Gap: The most powerful and often overlooked tools for healing (environmental factors and natural therapies) are largely ignored by mainstream peer reviewed research and articles to dermatology clinics because they aren’t profitable.
• Empowerment is Key: True healing comes from understanding and addressing the underlying issues, empowering your own body to find balance and stop the inflammatory cycle.

Conclusion

We’re living in an incredible time where information is literally at our fingertips. Thousands of scientists are working hard to understand HS, and that work is valuable. But it’s crucial to recognize that the path to healing might not be found in a pill or an injection. The gap between research and reality shows us that we need to look deeper. The answer to “can you cure HS?” might be more about empowering your body from within than waiting for a magic bullet from a lab. True, sustainable relief is possible, and it starts with looking at the whole picture.

Important Medical Disclaimer

1. Not Medical Advice: All content and information on this website is for informational and educational purposes only. It does not constitute medical advice and is not a substitute for professional diagnosis, treatment, or consultation with a qualified healthcare provider.

2. My Role and Qualifications: I am a biomedical scientist and PhD candidate and share information from that perspective, combined with my personal experience as a patient with Hidradenitis Suppurativa. However, I am not a medical doctor, physician, or registered healthcare professional. Do not consider our relationship a doctor-patient relationship.

3. Consult Your Doctor: Always seek the advice of your medical doctor or another qualified health professional with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking it because of something you have read on this website. If you suspect you are experiencing a medical emergency, or a severe infection, do not rely on this website or the HS Armor community, please call your local emergency services or go to the nearest emergency room immediately.

4. A Critical Warning on Medication: Pharmaceutical drugs are a crucial tool in managing Hidradenitis Suppurativa for many people. Under absolutely no circumstances should you ever alter, reduce, or stop taking your prescribed medication without the explicit direction of the doctor who prescribed it. Doing so can be dangerous. Always consult with your doctor before doing anything related to your treatment plan.

5. No Liability: Your use of this website and reliance on any information provided is solely at your own risk.

6. Individual Results May Vary: Every patient’s biological baseline, genetics, and adherence to the protocol is different. Therefore, I cannot guarantee specific results, cures, or timelines for your Hidradenitis Suppurativa.

7. Scientific and Expressive Freedom: The articles published on this blog are distinct from formal peer-reviewed academic literature. They serve as an independent platform for my personal viewpoints, scientific hypotheses, and philosophical reflections as an independent scientist and HS patient. While grounded in biomedical research, I exercise a degree of expressive freedom to translate rigid academic data into insights from a patient perspective. These writings are my personal meditations on the science of HS and should be read as my individual perspective, not as universally accepted clinical consensus or formal peer-reviewed literature.