| Hives: Causes, Treatment and Prevention
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Hives: Causes, Treatment and Prevention
Hives is a common skin inflammation. It is also known as urticaria. There is sudden outbreak of pale red bumps which are swollen. It can be in the form of rashes or welts on the skin. It can appear over any part of the body including lips, face, tongue, throat or ears. There various sizes of hives and many hives may join to form larger areas, called plaques. Hives clear away themselves within hours or may take several days. Hives may occur due to allergy to certain objects or conditions or any other reason. Person may feel itching or burning sensation because of hives. There are no specific tests to diagnose hives; doctor may identify it by examining.
Another form of hives is angioedema which is similar to urticaria but instead of surface, swelling occurs beneath the skin. During this disorder, you can feel extensive swelling around eyes, lips, hands, legs and sometimes genitals. It takes more time to clear than urticaria. In very few cases, angioedema in throat, lungs or tongue can cause difficulty in air way and becomes life threatening.
What is the cause of Hives?
There is a chemical called Histamine which is released from some cells in the blood vessels of skin. When because of histamine, blood plasma seeps out of blood vessels into the skin, hives formation takes place. Hives are a sign of this disorder into the blood vessels.
It is sometimes difficult to determine the cause of the release of histamine. Generally some allergic reactions, insect stings, exposure to sunlight, some chemicals in foods or some medicines can cause this.
Various Types of hives: There are various types of hives.
Acute Urticaria: Acute urticaria is a form of hive which takes less than six weeks to heal. It is most commonly caused by some medicines, foods, insect bites, internal diseases or latex. Fish, nuts, chocolates, eggs, tomatoes, milk, soy and wheat are some foods responsible for hives. Raw food products are more common cause of hives than cooked ones. Some food preservatives also cause hives.
Some medicines like aspirin, ibuprofen, and high blood pressure medications can cause hives in some individuals.
Chronic urticaria: This type of hive usually takes more than six weeks to clear up. Causes for this type of hives are similar to those of acute urticaria. But these individuals may be suffering from conditions like autoimmunity, malignancy, hormonal disorder and chronic infections.
Physical urticaria: This form of hive occurs due to direct contact of skin and the irritant. Irritant may be exposure to sunlight, extreme cold or hot condition, exercise, perspiration. Hives appear at the point of contact only in this form and usually one hour after exposure.
Dermatographism: When skin gets scratched or stoked, this type of hive occurs.
Hereditary Angioedema: This form of disorder runs into families where tissues have painful swelling.
Treating Hives and Angioedema
The most important part of treating hives is to identify the irritant object or condition and avoid its contact. But it is not easy to identify the cause.
If you have hives and you feel symptoms like dizziness, wheezing, tightness in chest, difficulty in breathing, swelling of lips, tongue or face.
Doctors usually prescribe antihistamines to provide relief from itching and rashes. Doctor may prescribe simple course of these medicines to prevent formation of hives.
In case of chronic hives, only antihistamines do not work. These are prescribed in combination with other medicines like oral corticosteroids. In case of more severe hives or angioedema, steroid injections may be needed.
How to manage hives?
If you get hives and swelling, you can do something to manage it. Follow these simple tips to manage it.
· Do not use hot water to bath as it can irritate rashes; instead use lukewarm water.
· For cleansing, use mild and gentle soap to avoid dryness of skin
· Have cool atmosphere in the room and home, it will help soothe itching and pain.
· Place cool compress over affected area.
· Do not wear tight-fitting cloths.
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