Cyrina finds relief for painful, chronic boils and abscesses

Through Medicaid, a patient finds relief for hidradenitis suppurativa after years of severe, chronic abscesses and blisters.

Cyrina's story

I began a series of high-dose antibiotics and was instructed to take sitz baths. I even underwent treatments to burn off the boils, but they came back. They would come and go and ranged in severity, but I was never able to find relief. I was often embarrassed and in pain.

Later in life, I enrolled in Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program, and started seeing a primary care physician who referred me to a specialty dermatology clinic at the University of California, San Francisco. There I started seeing Dr. Haley Naik. She spent a lot of time consulting with me and was very knowledgeable about hidradenitis suppurativa. She educated me about the emerging research on the disease and new treatments.

She has helped me manage my condition, including prescribing a new drug, and my skin has finally been clear. The clinic is affiliated with a number of specialists, and if I need, I can consult with a nutritionist or other specialist to help me be healthy.

Seeing Dr. Naik has not only helped me find relief for my hidradenitis suppurativa, but it has also greatly improved my quality of life.

The dermatologist's perspective

“For so long, HS was under-recognized and treatment options were severely limited. But UCSF Dermatology and our HS translational research program are helping to change that. I feel very fortunate to be practicing in a time where our specialty is working hard to understand this condition.”

─ Hailey Naik, MD, Assistant Professor, Director of Hidradenitis Suppurativa Program at UCSF. Harvard, NIH-trained dermatologist.