You get boils (or painful acne/hidradenitis suppurativa-like bumps) around your period due to hormonal shifts, primarily fluctuating progesterone and testosterone, which increase oil (sebum) production, clog pores, and trigger inflammation, leading to bacterial growth and infection in hair follicles, especially in hormonally sensitive areas like the groin, armpits, or lower face. Stress and friction from tight clothes/pads can worsen these flare-ups, making them painful and persistent.
Treatment
Hidradenitis suppurativa usually starts around puberty, but it can occur at any age after puberty. This may suggest that sex hormones play a part.
Most boils are caused by Staphylococcus aureus, a type of bacterium commonly found on the skin and inside the nose. A bump forms as pus collects under the skin. Boils sometimes develop at sites where the skin has been broken by a small injury or an insect bite, which gives the bacteria easy entry.
Risk factors for boils
Diabetes – recurring boils may be symptomatic of uncontrolled diabetes, especially for people aged over 40 years. Poor hygiene – sweat and dead skin cells in natural creases and crevices, such as the armpit, provide a hospitable home for bacteria.
Apply a warm, moist compress (like a damp washcloth) to the area three to four times per day (this helps draw the pus to the surface and encourages the boil to drain, but use a new washcloth each time) Never squeeze, pop or cut open the boil yourself (this can lead to more pain and spread the infection)
Many people living with HS believe that stress is one of the biggest triggers for an HS flare. Alcohol is known to be inflammatory and can make HS symptoms worse. Smoking is believed to be one of the most common triggers of HS. Research shows that up to 90% of people with HS are smokers.
Hidradenitis Suppurativa is typically a genetic condition but can be influenced by hormones. It often starts around puberty and can worsen with the menstrual cycle. Smoking is a known trigger.
However, you can prevent boils if you:
Boils (furuncles) are often mistaken for pimples, cysts (like epidermal or sebaceous cysts), folliculitis, or even carbuncles, as they all form red, swollen, sometimes pus-filled lumps in or around hair follicles, but boils are typically deeper, more painful, and involve infection of multiple follicles, unlike a simple pimple. Cysts are usually slow-growing, movable, and less painful unless infected, while folliculitis involves smaller bumps that can precede a boil, and carbuncles are larger, deeper infections of several boils.
Many people feel extremely uncomfortable when they have boils all over their bodies, especially if they keep returning. The presence of the Staphylococcus aureus bacteria is the main cause of these recurring boils, not an increase in body heat.
Hormonal imbalances show up as symptoms like fatigue, mood swings, weight changes, irregular periods, skin issues (acne), hair changes, sleep problems, brain fog, low libido, digestive issues, and temperature sensitivity, affecting energy, body functions, and mental well-being, often linked to stress, thyroid, or reproductive hormones.
Skin issues
Pimples (acne) Excess facial or body hair. Scalp hair loss or hair thinning. Painful swollen areas (boils), often appearing in the underarms, breast and groin (hidradenitis suppurativa)
Signs and symptoms of the condition include:
Treatment
Keeping the area clean and using warm compresses or sitz baths may help smaller boils heal on their own. For larger boils with more severe symptoms, a doctor may need to make an incision to help it drain. Practicing personal hygiene and not sharing items such as razors may help to prevent vaginal boils.
They're most likely to form in places where skin rubs against skin or you sweat. Most often, the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus (staph) causes boils. But other types of bacteria or fungi on your skin can also cause them.
Boils are caused by a bacterial infection, usually from Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, that enters the body through a hair follicle or broken skin. Contributing factors include: Poor hygiene: Bacteria can accumulate on the skin when hygiene is not maintained.
Your hormones fluctuate month to month in order to give you your period and a host of symptoms can arise as a result of this; including changes in your body temperature.
As you near the start of your menstrual cycle or throughout, acne often appears due to hormones and is often found around the chin or jawline. These are both clues that the breakouts may be hormone-related.
Evidence has emerged regarding vitamin D deficiency and HS [35, 36], with one study demonstrating that vitamin D deficiency was associated with HS severity: in a pilot of 14 HS patients, supplementation with vitamin D improved symptoms, significantly reducing the number of nodules at 6 months (p = 0.011) [36].
Hidradenitis suppurativa, also known as acne inversa, is a chronic skin disease characterized by recurrent boil-like lumps (nodules) under the skin. The nodules become inflamed and painful. They tend to break open (rupture), causing abscesses that drain fluid and pus.