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Skin Disorders (Home) > Urticaria Urticaria or nettle rash or hives are itchy raised area on skin and appears in varying shape and sizes. Urticaria is generally reddish color spots can be round or any irregular shape and ranging from a few millimeters to several inch in diameters. Urticaria can occur or any part of the skin and the tendency of these spots to change the size and move from one part of the skin to another part of the skin vary rapidly. Urticaria or skin eruptions can remain in the body for variable periods and from a few seconds to few hours and tends to disappear without leaving behind any trace of the skin. The spot at one part of the skin may disappear and reappear at another part of the skin within a few hours. Some patients may get urticaria rarely or once in a while and some may get many times a day. Some patients may also get only a few spots, while patients may have large rashes appearing for days and months. Sometimes with the hives or urticaria, swelling may be observed on various parts of the body such as hands, feet, lips, eyes, nose etc. This in medical term is known as angioedema and in this condition deep tissues are affected. Causes of Urticaria: Although there may be various causes for inducing urticara, however in many cases the exact cause is not known. Some of the known causes are mentioned below. (a) Drug: Drugs are major causes to induce urticaria. Drugs such as antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs, hormonal replacement drugs, contraceptive pills etc causes urticaria in sensitive peoples. Some people addicted to street drugs, may develop urticaria and morphine is reported to be one of such drug capable to induce urticaria. (b) Infection: Certain infections such as hepatitis (viral infection), urinary tract infection (UTI, bacterial infection), helminthiasis (Worm infection), insect bites etc are known to cause urticaria. (c) Food and Cosmetic Allergy: Various types of food and cosmetic products are said to be behind the cause of inducing hives in some sensitive peoples. If you are a patient of urticaria, your doctor may ask you to change your diet, soap or other cosmetic products. Diagnosis: A detailed diagnosis is made once the closed examination of urticaria is carried out. The detailed diagnosis carried out by the physician will depend on case to case and will include identifying cause of urticaria. Certain suspected foods or cosmetic items may be asked to drop. The patient is advised to inform doctor all the information required by the doctor. Types of Urticaria: All the urticaria or hive have been categorized and put into two categories; ordinary urticaria and physical urticaria. In ordinary urticaria, the red eruptions with or without swelling appears and disappears and sequence may continue for weeks and if persists for more than six weeks, the urticaria is known as chronic urticaria. Treatment: Treatment of urticaria consists of elimination of the factors responsible for inducing urticaria. This can be done by identifying and avoiding the exact cause i.e. food and cosmetic allergies, improving environmental conditions etc. Medical Treatment: Histamine plays in major role in many allergies if released by skin cells known as mast cells. Histamine may cause the fluid to leak from local blood vessels and therefore causes skin eruptions or urticaria. Antihistamines are the most effective medicines for treating urticaria, as these medicines counteract the affect of histamine leaked from mast cells. Various antihistamines are available in the market with or without prescriptions. Some times the doctor may prescribe the combinations of antihistamines to treat chronic urticaria.
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