Hives Treatment Center Over 150,000 patients helped since 2001

 

What Are Hives?

Hives are a skin rash condition known medically as urticaria. Hives are a type of skin allergy or rash that is caused by an allergen in most cases. Hives are raised welts on the skin’s surface that are generally circular with a pale center and red halo. These welts can be different sizes and shapes, and can be found on any part of the body. There are many types of hives, and hives causes vary based on the type of hives experienced.

 

What Are The Symptoms of Hives?

The symptoms of hives include itching in most cases, swelling of the area, red welts that look much like a mosquito bite. If you have any of these symptoms, you may have hives. Most doctors when presented with hives, will try to test to find out the allergen that is responsible for the case. If the allergen simply cannot be found, such as in cold hives, only the symptoms are treated. Many doctors will give antihistamines because histamines are released into the system and this is what causes hives to form, but these commonly given antihistamines and corticosteroids only treat symptoms, not the causes. If you or your child has a life threatening case that causes constricted breathing, epinephrine is commonly given on the spot.

 

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What Causes Hives?

Hives are most commonly caused by an allergic reaction in which your immune system releases histamine into the bloodstream to fight the allergen. In essence, your immune system thinks there is a foreign substance (called allergens) in your system, and tells the body to release histamine to fight it off. This usually causes the red, raised bumps and swelling which can be quite painful unless a treatment for hives is taken.

 

Most of the time the causes of hives remain unknown. There are certain things that are common causes though, or what are called triggers. These include, but are not limited to:

• Dog, cat or any other pet dander (shed skin cells)
  
  

• Drug allergies (antibiotics, aspirin, sulfa, codeine, penicillin, ACE inhibitors like blood pressure medications, phenobarbitol, aspirin, anticonvulsant drugs, etc.)
  
  

• Overexposure to cold (see cold hives), heat (see heat hives), water or sun (AKA sun hives)
  
  

• Food allergies (from eating or touching): shellfish, eggs, chocolate, nuts, milk, berries, soy, wheat, fish, etc.
  
  

• Insect stings and bites
  
  

• Pollen from flowers
  
  

• Infections (both viral or fungal) or illness like Lupus, Lymphoma, Hepatitis B, Leukemia (see viral hives)
  
  

• Too much anxiety or stress in your life (see stress hives)
  
  

• Food additives: Artificial colors (such as Tartrazine), flavor enhancer (MSG), etc.
  
  

• Sweating
  
  

• Tight fitting clothes
  
  

• Certain bacteria
  
  

• Exposure to certain plants
  
  

• Parasitic worms

If your hives case lasts less than 6 weeks it is called acute urticaria, and if it lasts longer than 6 weeks it is called chronic urticaria. In the latter cases, it is harder to figure out the cause of the hives. Up to 80% of all chronic urticaria cases are idiopathic in nature, meaning that the allergen is unknown.

 

Causes of Hives

Hives causes can be avoided; sometimes only through trial and error. To do this, keep a journal of all the foods, medications and illnesses or activities that you or your child has prior to getting the hives. After a few cases of hives, your hives causes will be seen in the similarities between the cases. If you always get hives after being out in the direct sunlight for a few hours, your physical hives will then have a known allergen. In this way, you can avoid the allergen and be able to avoid the hives as well.

 

How Do I Get Rid Of My Hives Causes?

Regardless of what causes your hives, most people find that OxyHives eliminates their hives symptoms and outbreaks faster than any other medication on the market. Please see our treatment options page for more information.