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Have you ever walked past a mirror, looked at your body full of scars, and thought, what the heck?! If you have not, then God bless you! However, if you have, then this article is for you.

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Living with an autoimmune disease is no easy thing — especially when it impacts your skin.

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Perhaps you’ve watched him on American Idol. Maybe you love his music, or his writing.

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When I was 8-years-old, I began to notice weird, purplish bumps between my legs and under my arms. They would often open, pus, and bleed. As a child, I thought I was hitting puberty.

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Hidradenitis Suppurativa is a life-long skin condition that causes painful lumps mostly in the armpits, groin, inner thigh area, breasts, and buttocks.

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My life as a 13-year-old was obsessed with fitting in, crushing hard on boys, and dealing with a mysterious plague of acne that started in my armpits.

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Eighteen years ago, I started experiencing intermittent but recurring abscesses on my skin. These abscesses grew to the size of a golf ball and then drained. After they drained, they always left behind large purple-ish grey scars.

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Hidradenitis Suppurativa is not a rare disease. It is estimated that 1%-4% of the population has HS.

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For Jalissa Brown, Hidradenitis Suppurativa began as it does for so many young people: subtly, and right around her pre-teen years.

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Though Hidradentinitis Supparativa is certainly no laughing matter, Avery Love has found a way to share the reality of living with HS in a way that just might be the most relatable of all: a TikTok trend.