Hidden Epidemic Exposed on Morning TV

Support group wearing masks comforts a seated woman — Photo: Drazen Zigic / Shutterstock

A chronic skin disease that takes most patients seven years or longer to get diagnosed finally got national television airtime this week.

Quick Take

Good Morning America featured advocates Brindley Brooks and Cydney Carter of HS Connect sharing resources for people living with hidradenitis suppurativa.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says hidradenitis suppurativa, or HS, causes painful abscesses and lumps and affects roughly 1% to 4% of Americans.
Research shows patients often wait three to ten years for a correct diagnosis, with a global average delay near 7.2 years.
The American Academy of Dermatology and the Hidradenitis Suppurativa Foundation just released the first-ever joint treatment guidelines for the disease.

What Advocates Told Viewers This Week

Brindley Brooks and Cydney Carter appeared on Good Morning America to talk about hidradenitis suppurativa through HS Connect, a sponsor of the show. They walked viewers through what the condition looks like day to day and pointed people toward real resources for care. Their goal was simple. Get people who suffer in silence to recognize their symptoms and seek help sooner rather than later.

That kind of plain-spoken, patient-to-patient messaging matters because HS does not get talked about much. It hides under clothes, in private places on the body, and under decades of embarrassment. Advocates like Brooks and Carter are betting that hearing someone else describe the same pain, the same confusion, and the same frustration with doctors can push a viewer to finally make an appointment.

What the Disease Actually Is, According to Federal Health Officials

The FDA describes hidradenitis suppurativa as a chronic skin condition that produces painful abscesses, nodules, or lumps. It typically shows up in the armpits, inner thighs, breasts, and groin, though it can develop anywhere there is a hair follicle. The agency estimates it affects between 1% and 4% of people in the United States, a number large enough to fill every NFL stadium several times over, yet the disease remains widely misunderstood.

That misunderstanding carries real consequences. The condition is not contagious and it is not caused by poor hygiene, two myths that have followed patients for years and often made them feel ashamed to seek medical help in the first place. Correcting that record publicly, on a national morning show, does more for patients than any pamphlet ever could.

Why the Diagnosis Takes So Long for So Many Patients

Medical research paints a frustrating picture of delay. One review found the average time from symptom onset to diagnosis runs about 7.2 years worldwide. Another study put the range for adults at three to ten years, with children sometimes diagnosed faster, within one to two years. Doctors point to misdiagnosis, limited awareness among primary care providers, and patient embarrassment as the main culprits behind the lag.

The American Academy of Dermatology reports that African American and biracial women between ages 30 and 39 face a notably higher risk of developing the disease than other Americans. Despite that, more than three million people have now been formally diagnosed with hidradenitis suppurativa in the United States, according to the Academy, which just published the first joint care guidelines with the Hidradenitis Suppurativa Foundation on October 20, 2026.

What Patients Are Saying for Themselves Online

Beyond network television, patients have been building their own libraries of testimony on platforms like YouTube, describing decade-long battles with flare-ups, failed treatments, and doctors who missed the diagnosis entirely. These firsthand accounts give viewers a rawer, less produced look at what living with HS actually involves, complementing the shorter segments aired on morning shows.

Dermatology researchers note that patient advocates can genuinely help people take that first step toward a doctor’s office, especially when representation reflects the full range of people affected by the disease. The caution researchers raise is that awareness campaigns work best when they stay broad and inclusive rather than narrow, since the disease does not discriminate by background even though some groups face higher risk than others.

The Bottom Line for Families Watching at Home

None of this requires outrage or suspicion. It requires attention. A painful, often hidden disease finally has a public face, official federal guidance confirming what it is and is not, and fresh clinical guidelines from the country’s leading dermatology groups. For the millions quietly dealing with symptoms, that combination of visibility and medical clarity may be the push needed to finally walk into a doctor’s office instead of waiting another seven years.