A woman branded “Freddy Kruger” by classmates and told she needed to “clean better” by doctors was left bedridden for 10 months due to a rare skin condition. Kira Archuleta, 24, suffers from a severe form of Hidradenitis Suppurativa (HS) - commonly confused with acne, the condition can cause excruciating boils, abscesses and lesions.
Having always suffered with acne-prone skin, Kira first realised something was wrong at the age of 14. She'd found a "bump" on her underarm, which was located underneath the skin. With a family history of acne and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), she initially put the new, "unusual" boil down to hormones.
Within three years, the boils spread across her body - turning into open wounds and lesions if she scratched them. Kira tried CBD oil in order to manage the unbearable pain. But she quickly realised prescription painkillers and antibiotics would be her only hope.
At 17, Kira was finally told the cause of her painful boils and she was officially diagnosed with HS. Kira struggled so much with the pain, she had to be homeschooled, and was unable to continue with her job in a supermarket bakery.
The agonising pain even left her bedridden for nearly a year. Kira, a carer from Manteca, California, US, said: "A doctor walked into the room and said, ‘you have Hidradenitis Suppurativa' and I was like 'what?'
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“I was shocked, I’d never heard of it before. I didn’t just have wounds, spots or lesions - these were actual holes on my body.
"You could fit a whole hand in some of them. The pain became so excruciating, I ended up bedridden for 10 months.
"Now, with pain management and antibiotics - I can work and live a full life. I've learnt that embracing your body is what makes you beautiful, not appearances.”
Despite having no known genetic history of HS - the bumps began to spread to areas like her face, thighs, breasts and groin. She said: "Around 10 years ago, doctors didn’t really have the knowledge of my condition in the same way they do now.
"They made me feel ashamed, at first. I was told the problem would go away if I just ‘cleaned better’ - which made me feel even worse, like I was doing something wrong.
"I was afraid to show my face for so long, because society told me it was ugly. People like me feel cast out and forced to hide.
“It was three long years of worsening pain until I finally got a diagnosis. I used to play softball at school, and I had to give it up. I went from being this strong, outgoing, sporty, bubbly person - to a shell of my former self.
"Even as an adult, people still call me horrible names like Freddy Kruger. Before long, it began to spread around my thighs and, because the nature of my job meant there was a lot of walking around, standing on my feet all day - it became too debilitating, and I ended up unable to do my job.
"My boils were absolutely everywhere - on my groin, my thighs, my underarm. I could just be sitting down, and I’d feel one of the blisters pop and that would be it - pain radiating through my entire body."
Her lesions meant Kira was unable to get another job - and life quickly became impossible for her. “I had my independence snatched away from me,” she said.
“It was so hard. Being bedridden isn’t any kind of life - my mum bathed me, changed my dressings every morning and made me food.
"She did things no mother should be doing for a daughter in her early 20s.” Kira says she wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for her mum, Tina, 48, a carer.
“It got to the point where I just couldn’t live like this anymore," she said. "My mum was in agony watching me go through the pain.
“I didn’t want to live. But after 10 months, she decided to admit me into the hospital.” She was taken to the UC Davis Medical Centre in Sacramento, California, US, and kept in for seven nights.
“They gave me antibiotics and fentanyl through an IV and they were properly cleaning my wounds," she said. "Through the will of god - I began to feel the most healed I had in 10 months.”
After coming out of the hospital, Kira was put on a course of doxycycline for the flare-ups and is in the process of starting Humira - a medication typically used for arthritis - to ease her pain. She also adopted a new skincare routine - which includes lukewarm showers once a day, witch hazel and moisturiser.
Kira has also stopped eating red meat, pork and dairy as she says these “aren’t good for her body” - according to the NCBI, there is some proof to suggest this helps to lessen some people’s inflammatory symptoms. “This is more than just a condition - or even a disability. Hidradenitis Superativa is a plague," she said.
“But above all, this condition has taught me to be grateful. I do feel more beautiful because I know that I am not alone. There is finally a crowd I can fit into. I’m still here - and now, through TikTok - I have a platform to spread awareness of HS.”
