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Hives |
What Are hives?Hives or Urticaria as it is medically recognized is a dermatological condition and is the most common form of allergy that many encounter with.
Quarter of the percentage of world population has already met up with their course of hives, in one instance or the other in their lifetime. It is quite natural for you to get a sudden attack of hives, which may seem like reddened outburst or itchy welts on the skin that may disappear in the matter of minutes or even hours. Itching can be unbearable for the diseased, but would not burn or cause to hurt the skin; though there are very few instances where the condition worsens leading to such irritations.
It is seen that urticaria mostly affects areas of the body like trunk, arms, body back and legs. These can be rounded or pea shaped, but differing in diameter.
However, it can also invade parts of the body that have softer tissues, such as eyes, genitals, inner arms, mouth and so on. Hives appearing on these areas might seem severe and dreadful, but in almost all cases reddening or the intense irritation coupled with swelling have a tendency to fade away with time. Medical science has recognized this swelling caused due to hives as angioedema.
This situation may affect a deeper layer in the skin, unlike normal hives that are mostly confined to the upper layers. Angioedema which leads to swelling inside the throat is a situation that requires due care, as the swelling may cause to block the air supply into the lungs.
Types of hives can be ordinary or physical, and can be acute or chronic when considering the intensity.
Normally an acute attack of hives can occur due to some kind of allergy the patient holds towards certain food items; in most cases it can be prawns, fish, eggs, tomatoes, milk, insect stings etc. Although, these are not restricted to the above listed factors and in most cases, an allergy causing factor in one person cannot be generalized for all. There can also be recurrent attacks that some develop due to certain climatic conditions and patients take to curing the disease all by themselves, not seeking for appropriate medical care.
Chronic hives do not show up frequently. Someone affected with this situation can have symptoms persisting for months and years and in most cases even medical diagnosis can prove of no use.
A more serious type of hives is ‘dermographia’, which falls under physical urticaria, where the skin tends to leave evident marks or welts when scratched or rubbed.
Though you can ward of much of the acute attacks by not coming into contact with the allergy causing factor, the chronic and dermographia kind calls for adequate medical attention. Physicians may prescribe anti-allergy drugs that might help you in controlling the itch of hives temporarily or even for your lifetime. |
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