For adults with moderate to severe hidradenitis suppurativa

Clyde the Guide offers ways to get the most from your doctor appointment.

Use the helpful ideas below to prepare to talk with your doctor and get the most from your appointment. Learn about symptom tracking, summarizing your experience, and more.

Let’s write your Cue Card

Your Cue Card can help you summarize your experience with hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), so you’re prepared to share everything you want to cover with your dermatologist and what you want from your treatment.

Here are some topics you may want to include:

Frequency: How often are your symptoms appearing?
Duration: How long do your symptoms last?
Symptoms: Have you noticed new symptoms like tunneling or more abscesses?
Changes: Do your symptoms get worse or better at times?
Day-to-day impact: Do your symptoms affect your daily activities and what you want to do?
Management: Are you able to relieve and control your symptoms?

Ready to get started? You can create your Cue Card with a pen and paper or on your phone using the notes app.

View two examples below to see what your Cue Card might look like.

Cue Card 1

My bumps and abscesses are located _____ [describe location] and are _____ [describe severity/scarring]. This has ____ [describe their impact].

Cue Card 2

Compare your symptoms today to a point in the past, like a year ago. Note any changes during that time.
A year ago, ____ [describe severity and impact of your HS at that time], but now, ______ [describe severity and impact of your HS currently].

Now let’s practice

Now that you have a Cue Card to help you share how HS has impacted your daily activities since your last appointment and a list of things you want to discuss with your dermatologist, try these tips.