Allergic Urticaria

Allergic Urticaria General Information

Urticaria is known as hives and represents a skin condition, very common, because more than 30% of the globe population will have urticaria at some point in their lives. It appears anywhere on the body as individual or grouped hives that may have a big variety of sizes, from very small to some large ones. It is important to remember that every hive resists on the body up to 24 hours; after this period of time, some new hives appear on another part of the body. But, if scratched, the condition of these boils becomes worse. Urticaria can be classified as being non-allergic or allergic. Allergic Urticaria is the overreaction of the immune system to triggers. In comparison with the common form, Allergic Urticaria affects usually the children, and more rarely the adults. Some cases of someone developing this disease may be: insect stings, some foods (mainly nuts, eggs or shellfish), infections, medication (sulfa drugs or penicillin), different substances and blood transfusions. Pro-inflammatory substances and histamine are released by the mast cells that can be found in the skin and tissues. This signifies a response to the binding of IgE antibodies (allergen bound) caused by a high affinity cell surface receptors. They can also be released by the basophiles, white cells from the blood that have a major role, mostly when we talk about chronic urticaria. Sometimes, this skin disease is related to angioedema that occurs in lower dermis that urticaria and is characterized by swelled hives. These two usually appear together but the patient’s health status becomes worrying.

Allergic Urticaria Symptoms

Urticaria itself can be considered a symptom of allergies, but not always is the allergic reaction to a biological factor. Allergic Urticaria usually occurs sudden, characterized by severe itching. This is followed by the actual eruption that is represented as red welts that can be sometimes swollen or bumps at the skin surface. These can cause pain or a sensation of burning. The hives last from a couple of minutes to 24 hours and always some new ones appear others disappear and are usually differ from each other. It may last from two or three weeks, to six weeks. You can observe them anywhere on the body, but is more common on legs and arms and very rarely on the soles of the feet or palms of the hands. Also, some people may have them only on a part of the body. The small hives may join together and form bigger ones. These boils lead to discomfort and itching or, in rare, but severe cases can occur in the mouth and throat and get much more swelled so that the patient can stop from breathing, becoming unconsciousness. Some persons present Allergic Urticaria along with angioedema which is more serious because the swellings develop into deeper dermis. Usually, having Allergic Urticaria does not put your life in danger, but when angioedema occurs, the person starts to feel dizzy, with a rapid unusual heart beat, and with a swelled face , throat and tongue. Some eruptions are so severe that can cause sleeplessness or irritability.

Allergic Urticaria Treatment

If you find that you suffer from the symptoms listed above, seek immediate medical care to receive the adequate treatment so that your disease does not turn into something worse. There are some mild forms that do not require a specific treatment and they disappear as fast as they appear, in a couple of minutes, or hours. Very important in treating Allergic Urticaria is to find out the causes that lead to it. Some specialists think that it can be related to food, drugs or latex allergies, although not always it is known what triggers Allergic Urticaria. For example, if a specific food leads to this kind of allergic reaction, then it should not be eaten anymore. It should be very useful to keep a list of your daily aliments so that the doctor could rapidly identify the There is no exact or specific test to determine the existence of the Allergic Urticaria and this is way the health care provider will need to know as much as possible about the medical history of your family and yours as well as the diary of foods that you ate recently and if you exposed yourself to some unusual substances.

It is very important for a patient that the doctor carefully identifies if he has Allergic Urticaria or a non-allergic form. So, the physician can advise you to see a dermatologist, allergist, immunologist or your primary care specialist. To determine the substance that caused Allergic Urticaria, some skin tests will be performed. To discover the presence of a system-wide illness, you must do some routine blood tests. The symptoms are relieved by giving to the patient antihistamines and if are taken on a regular schedule, could even prevent the hives from forming and that they do not get swelled. But sometimes, these medicines have no effect so that the ill person could receive a treatment with oral corticosteroids. If more severe allergic reaction appears, an emergency treatment is with epinephrine, given via an injection. Many people presenting a high risk for these kinds of reactions should learn from a specialist how to self-administrate the doses and must always have on them shots of epinephrine. Some patients receive antidepressants, especially tricycle ones, such as doxepin because these medicines have a sedative effect, relieving the pain. But, in some cases, adverse effects, for example dry mouth, urine retention and blurred vision can interfere in the patient’s life. We can offer you some tips while you wait the hives to be gone: the soap that you use should be a mild one, hot water must be avoided and instead of it use lukewarm water in baths and showers because an outbreak could follow, on the affected areas you could apply some cool compresses and it should be great if you manage to sleep and work in a cool room. Also, the swelling can be reduced with cold baths that make the discomfort to disappear. While you have the disease you should wear comfortable and loose cloths because the tight ones could trigger another outbreak.