Urticaria is an allergic skin rash also known as 'nettle rash'. Urticaria can be categorized in two major types; Acute Urticaria and Chronic Urticaria. In acute one, the symptoms persists up to 3 months and after this time period the patients' condition becomes normal. While in Chronic Urticaria, it takes more than 3 months and the symptoms reappear again and again after regular or even irregular time intervals.

Urticaria occurs following release of histamine, bradykinin, kallikrein, and other vasoactive substances from mast cells and basophils, resulting in intradermal edema from capillary and venous vasodilation and occasionally from leukocyte infiltration. Urticaria has four major mechanisms.

Symptoms of Angioedema are usually restricted to the head are, severe swelling often occurs around the mouth, eyes and lips, this swelling can at times be so bad that the sufferer may look disfigured and unrecognisable, other complications attributed to Angioedema range from dysphonia or dysphagia to respiratory distress, complete airway obstruction, and death in a very limited amount of cases.

Treatment for Urticaria

The best way to treat chronic urticaria hives is to treat the itching, as scratching the rash will only prolong and exacerbate the hive outbreak. Calamine lotion is a proven way to soothe the skin and decrease itching.

Stress Management - while the disease is physiologic in origin, psychological management can also lessen the severity and the frequency of the attack. In addition, certain psychological means can also be done to shift focus away from the itch and discomfort during an attack.

As with most forms of urticaria the root cause of the condition is not apparent so is classed as idiopathic, while a sufferer of normal idiopathic urticaria can experiment with different measures to help his or her condition this is not advised for expectant mothers & professional medical symptomatic relief should be sought.

Diet - one who is suffering from urticaria should shy away from food that have a lot of preservatives like canned goods and certain food that is known to cause allergies.

Drink nettle tea which is made by mixing 2 tsp of powdered nettles in to hot water. add natural honey or freshly squeezed lemon to taste if required.

Milk of magnesia applied to the lesions, provides some relief. As milk of magnesia is an alcalescent solution it helps in removing the irritating itchy sensation.

Normally Urticaria is treated with the help of steroids and antihistamines. Steroids work very fast and make symptoms disappear quickly. But these shall not be used for a long time as prolonged use of steroids can cause irreversible damage to the body.

For the treatment of urticaria, application of Indian mustard (Brassica juncea) oil and fomentation with hot water is beneficial. Induced vomiting and induced mild purgation are beneficial, where symptoms are severe, however, these procedures should be carried out by qualified and experienced physicians.

Use Vitamin D3, Sunlight is great but we're not all blessed with good whether, normal Vitamin D is not sufficient you will need to use D3 preferably in powder form as opposed to capsule or tablet, the recommended amount set in the USA is around 400 IU (international units per day), the UK offers no IU guidance at the time of writing. I take 1000 IU per day which helps.

There are very few foods which cause obvious allergic reactions, the best known are probably peanuts, but not knowing which foods you may be allergic to is a real problem, a bigger problem than you might imagine.


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