u/Gildedbrush

I’m a 36F. Since about November of last year I have had a recurring boil/cyst/lesion on my inner butt cheek, in my perineal area, close to my vulva.

I’ve been to one dermatologist. We’ve lanced and drained it. Injected it with steroids. Applied colloidal silver. I’ve taken oral clindamycin and applied topical clindamycin.

It. Keeps. Coming. Back.

The cycle is swell up to a large grape. Burst. Flatten. Swell. And when it bursts it looks like mostly blood. Though when the dermatologist lanced and drained it early on she took a swab since she saw pus and that’s why we tried antibiotics. But since then I’ve only visually seen blood, but idk if there could be pus in the blood.

If a sort of timeline helps back in like November of 2025, when I was showering one day, the area was itchy. So I scratched it. Then a day later two bumps had popped up. And my absolute dumbass tried to pop them. They got angry and morphed into one very large swollen cyst or boil. I was able to pop it a few days later and got a lot of pus out. It flattened. Then came back and got very large again. I left it alone and it eventually burst when I was using the bathroom. When I wiped I saw blood. Then I went to the dermatologist when it kept coming back. And I’ve been dealing with it coming back ever since.

I brought up the possibility of hidradenitis supperativa to my dermatologist and she basically said it’s very hard to diagnose me with it with having only one lesion. It’s not really responding super well with antibiotics, or if it does flatten, it ends up flaring back up. We’re trying a different antibiotic right now, but I’m doubtful it’s an infection. To note, I have had boils and cysts on my thighs and groin in the past but they eventually go away. They’ve never recurred like this one.

It feels like the deep inner layers of skin are always open, and I wonder if it just can’t heal, and the area just keeps filling with blood. But I’m just guessing here.

I have an appointment with my derm at the end of the month to talk about possible surgical removal or something. I’m so nervous to do it and idk if it’ll help. Like is there a sack to actually remove.

So I’m honestly just incredibly frustrated. I wonder if I need to seek a second opinion. I don’t know what else to do. I’m kind of desperately reaching out to Reddit in hopes someone can help me with information I maybe haven’t considered yet. Tia.

I don’t have a confirmed diagnosis of HS, but for the last 6 months I’ve been dealing with a recurring boil/lesion on my inner perineum area, closer to my vulva, but still near enough to my anal area that bacteria is a worry. I’m posting here because I’ve had people in the past suggest I may have mild HS. I’m trying to get diagnosed because I don’t know what else this recurring boil could be. I also have a history of boils on my thighs and pubic region, but they usually go away. This one hasn’t.

I’ve seen a dermatologist that has lanced, drained, injected it with steroids, applied colloidal silver, prescribed me oral and topical clindamycin and told me to wash with hibiclense or antibacterial soap. The boil is more of a lesion at this point and just keeps coming back. It swells, bursts, drains, flattens, then refills. It also seems to get worse right before my period.

So now my current biggest problem is after using topical and oral clindamycin, I have developed a raging yeast infection that will not go away with multiple doses of 150mg of diflucan. I’ve been dealing with it for like 2 months now. I’m trying to only wash my vulva with dove unscented bar soap, but I’m so paranoid if I don’t use antibacterial soap to cleanse the lesion and my buttocks, it’s going to become horribly infected. Also a note: I’m plus size, and sometimes struggle to “wipe front to back”, when I use the bathroom, so I try to shower right after I go. But then I think the antibacterial soap is contributing to the yeast infection not going away.

I’m trying to find a gynecologist to maybe get further testing to find out why the diflucan isn’t getting rid of the yeast infection, like maybe it’s a different strain of candida that needs different treatment. But it seems all the gynos in my network have months long wait lists and my GP doesn’t have the ability to test for why it’s not working, according to what she told me.

Anyone have advice on how to deal with lesions near their vulva or in their buttocks? How do I keep it properly clean without causing more issues for my vaginal health? And how can I get rid of this damned yeast infection?! I’m so at a loss right now.