It is quite surprising that your doctor has not pointed out the obvious that your husband is actually suffering from an infection and therefore, it is the invasion of bacteria that needs to be treated along with pain. The painful lumps are caused by a process called inflammation. This is how the body fights off a bacterial infection in the first place so the occurrence of the painful bumps and boils is absolutely a normal reaction of the body. By administering painkillers, which can also suppress the immune system, the condition has indeed gotten worse. It is advised that you start the following treatments immediately.
The first thing is to ask your husband to take a few days off work and to not wear a shirt that would cover up his armpits. It would actually be quite helpful if your husband’s armpit is devoid of hair as that would make treatment a lot simpler. However in the absence of this, treatment can still go on. Start treatment by applying some tetracycline topical ointment in the armpit. Do not make the mistake of applying hydrocortisone as it will just make the infection worse. Clean the area everyday with an antiseptic soap that contains Triclosan, if available. The reason that there are boils in your husband’s armpits is because the infection has now migrated to below the skin and the body’s white blood cells are actually trying to destroy the bacteria. The way to treat this is to allow the boil to rise to the surface. To do this, you have to stimulate the immune system by increasing the circulation to the area. This requires heat treatment, and can be done by placing a warm towel for a few minutes every hour until the patch of skin appears red. Eventually, over the course of a day or two, the lumps will come to the surface as boils, which might burst or just fade away slowly.
Pain is something that your husband might have to bear for sometime while the boils are on his body. When it does become too unbearable, it is a good idea to just put a cold towel over the region until the skin goes numb. This should only be done when the pain is unbearable. Get your husband to consume at least one bulb of garlic a day in a soup or regular food, as garlic is a natural antibiotic.