Urticaria - Causes, symptoms and treatment. MF.

Hives is one of the most difficult in terms of diagnosis and treatment of diseases with which they can come to see a doctor for an allergist-immunologist. Skin rashes like hives can have many causes, which requires careful examination of the patient and a balanced approach to his treatment. The proposed article is devoted to modern views on the cause of this pathology and illuminates the existing standards of diagnosis and treatment of urticaria.

Hives is a term that unites a whole group of diseases of a different nature, but with a similar clinical symptom: dermal blistering elements resembling a nettle burn.

Hives is a fairly common disease. There are no precise statistics on its occurrence, but a number of domestic studies have shown that at least once in life it occurs in 31% of the population. Particular difficulty for patients are chronic forms of the disease( hives, lasting more than 6 weeks).

The first detailed description of the symptoms of urticaria dates back to 1882, although similar symptoms are described in Hippocrates's works.

Cause of urticaria

Urticaria is a classic polyethological disease. This means that there can be many causes of the same symptoms.

One of the most common types of the disease is allergic urticaria , which is based on immediate type hypersensitivity. This mechanism underlies many allergic reactions. It is characterized by a rapid development of symptoms after the ingestion of an allergen. This type of allergy is typical for hives after an insect bite or food-related products.

Immunocomplex mechanism of urticaria development. Here, at the heart of the pathological process is the excessive formation of antigen-antibody complexes.(Antigen is a substance that induces an immune response, but an antibody is a protein produced by the human immune system to fight extracellular antigens, for more on this in an article on immunity).This mechanism is often observed in reactions to drugs, for example, the introduction of sera.

Also at the heart of skin problems may be the development of anaphylactoid reactions of .Their distinguishing feature is the increased capacity of mast cells( a special kind of cells, usually located under the skin and mucous membranes, carrying a large number of biologically active substances) to release the enzymes and active proteins accumulated in them. This process occurs without the involvement of immunity cells in the reaction.

The cause of urticaria may be a liver pathology, leading to a disruption of the destruction of histamine - one of the most active participants in allergic inflammation.

Often urticaria is as a consequence of autoimmune inflammation of .The states when the immune system begins to react to the body's own tissues, as to foreign ones.

These are only a few of the most common mechanisms for the development of urticaria. This problem is being actively studied, and every year more and more of its aspects are being opened.

A direct provoker or stimulant of an exacerbation of urticaria can be the use of medicines, food products, a bite of insects .Chronic urticaria often has as its basis some kind of chronic pathological process. In the old manuals they wrote that the rashes on the skin are a reflection of internal pathology.

Diseases associated with chronic urticaria, that is, capable of triggering the above mechanisms, leading to the appearance of skin symptoms:

1) Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract( gastritis, colitis, cholecystitis, intestinal dysbiosis, fermentopathies).
2) Infections: bacterial( Helicobacter pylori, chronic foci of infection in the oropharynx or urinary tract, gynecological infections), viral( Herpes simplex, etc.), fungal( Candida, Trichophyton, etc.), parasitic infestations( helminths).
3) Endocrine diseases( autoimmune thyroiditis, diabetes mellitus, thyrotoxicosis, hypothyroidism, dysfunctional disorders of the ovaries, etc.).
4) Systemic connective tissue diseases( rheumatoid arthritis, etc.)
5) Lymphoproliferative diseases( myeloma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, macroglobulinemia of Valdestrem, etc.).
6) Tumors( carcinoma of the large intestine, rectum, liver, lungs and ovary, etc.).
7) Other diseases( sarcoidosis, amyloidosis).

Symptoms of urticaria with photos

The main symptom of urticaria is the appearance of blisters on the skin. Externally, the blister is a protruding part of the skin, reminiscent of a trace from an insect bite or a burn left by the nettle. Skin element - accompanied by itching. The skin around the blister can be red. Elements can merge, acquiring a giant size. Most often, the rashes are symmetrical.

Characteristic feature of hives - complete reversibility of elements. That is, after stopping the attack of the skin, the skin returns to its original state. No white spots, hyperpigmentation, scarring does not remain. Elements can appear on any skin involvement, can migrate. For example, today on the hands, tomorrow on the stomach. ..

Photos with a detailed description of the symptoms of urticaria

Urticaria in children

Children have acute forms of urticaria. Hives rarely occur in children less than 6 months of age. Most often allergic forms of urticaria are noted.

For children suffering from urticaria, the expression of exudation is characteristic: the elements are edematic, abruptly rise above the skin. Itching is usually stronger than in adults. Possible increase in body temperature, the appearance of joint pain. ..

Read more Urticaria in children

Urticaria in pregnancy

During pregnancy, an increased amount of estrogen( female sex hormones) occurs, which is a risk factor for urticaria. Often the occurrence of urticaria is a symptom of developing gestosis of pregnant women. Characteristic features of hives in pregnant women are severe itching, insomnia, irritability, scratching on the skin.

Read more Urticaria during pregnancy

What tests will have to take with hives

When urticaria appears, you should consult a dermatologist or an allergist.

As we have said, a symptom such as urticaria can be caused by a huge number of causes. In this regard, a patient with urticaria is always offered to pass a large number of tests. This, of course, can scare, but there is no other way! If you do not establish the exact cause - treatment may be ineffective.

Recommended plan for the examination of a patient with a urticaria:

More What tests will have to be taken with hives

Treatment of urticaria

An essential component of treatment for urticaria is adherence to a diet, a special way of life( see details of nutrition and lifestyle habits with urticaria).It should be noted that with urticaria a number of medications that can be prescribed for the treatment of concomitant diseases of a patient with urticaria are prohibited. These drugs include: aspirin and its derivatives, codeine, ACE inhibitors( enap, enam, hood, etc.).If you suffer or suffer from urticaria, you should definitely notify your treating doctor about this, that he does not prescribe medications that can provoke an exacerbation.

Traditionally, treatment for urticaria begins with antihistamines. Preferred use of third-generation drugs: telfast, zirtek, erius, etc. Sometimes( with chronic urticaria) requires a long, up to three months or more taking medications.

Drugs and doses of drugs for the treatment of urticaria

Treatment of hives with folk remedies.

The funds from the arsenal of traditional medicine, which could be recommended to patients with urticaria there. In addition, many recommended ways to treat hives can cause an exacerbation of the disease. Conversations about the fact that some recipes helped someone are most often based on self-hypnosis.

Features of nutrition and lifestyle with hives.

For all forms of hives, stress, alcohol and smoking are contraindicated. It is not recommended to stay in the sun for a long time, especially for patients with solar urticaria. Do not overheat. Categorically you can not sunbathe.

Avoid contact with skin. For this, we must abandon tight clothing, belts, suspenders. It is not recommended work associated with heavy physical exertion.

Local protective equipment may be prescribed. For example, with solar urticaria, active use of sun creams with a protective factor of at least 40, with cold urticaria - protective creams from low temperature, for example, children's cream Morozko or cream Moustella with mink oil.

Against the background of an exacerbation it is necessary to observe a hypoallergenic diet.

What is not possible for a patient with urticaria

Possible complications of hives and prognosis

The prognosis for life is usually favorable. Possible development of edema Quincke, which proceeds with the development of edema of the upper respiratory tract. This condition already carries a threat to life.
In addition, urticaria can be a manifestation of internal pathology, including cancer, which certainly increases the prognosis for the patient. In 30% of cases, chronic forms of the disease occur.

Prophylaxis of urticaria

Measures aimed at preventing the development of urticaria have not been developed. It is necessary to observe a healthy lifestyle, timely detection and treatment of concomitant diseases. In the presence of frequent infectious diseases - sanation of all possible foci of infection.

Answers to frequently asked questions about hives:

Can I completely get rid of hives? Symptoms for more than 4 months.

Symptoms similar to hives appeared. But the elements for more than a week stay in one place, there is no itching. Suprastinum does not help or assist. What do you advise?

I have a solar urticaria. I'm going on vacation in Turkey. What do you advise?