I have been battleing this little sore under my left arm pit for almost seven months now. It will start out closed then get a little sore and have a hard knot underneath the skin. Then over night it opens up. Like a little volcano and erupts puss and serous fluids. Smells really bad then drains. I went to my PCP and they have treated it several times with antibiotics and antifungal creams only to have it come back. The last culture was almost a month ago and it came back as Staph. I was reffered to a dermatologist and my appointment was yesterday. He looked and spoke to me then said "I'm sorry. There is nothing I can do that has'nt already been done. You need a Surgeon.":confused: I stopped by my surgeons office that was around the corner. Asked the front desk lady weather I should wait until the 15th to see him when I have my first lap band appt. or if I needed to schedule another appt. She took one look under my arm and said no this cant wait. She went back spoke to Dr. T. Then before I knew it they were saying that I needed to have it removed because it was hidradenitis. He wanted to take me to the OR in the hospital to do it. Well being the stubborn person I am I said no lets do it in the office. Well 2 hours later I had part of my arm pit missing was in pain and have 5 to 7 stitches.:cry Last night was terrible. Had some bleeding but that has let off now and pain Lortab 7.5mg didn't help much:sick. Has anyone else had this? With weight loss does it go away? In two weeks I have my impacted wisdom teeth removed. I have been having nightmares about it for days, and now this. Dr. T agreed that before the band this has to be taken care of and my oral surgery needs to be done.:cry

there is a lot of conflicting data regarding hidradenitis suppurtiva- from the online article Hidradenitis Suppurativa: A Treatment Challenge - October 15, 2005 - American Family Physician

"The progression of hidradenitis may be advanced by excessive underarm adiposity because this creates an ideal environment for bacterial growth and also produces friction. Therefore, one method of prevention may be weight loss. However, although losing weight improves symptoms, it does not provide a cure."