Hives — also known as urticaria — are raised, red, itchy welts (wheals) of various sizes that appear and disappear on your skin. Angioedema, a similar swelling, causes large welts deeper in your skin, especially near your eyes and lips. A more serious condition — hereditary angioedema (HAE) — is an uncommon, inherited disorder, which can cause sudden, severe and rapid swelling of your face, arms, legs, hands, feet, genitalia, digestive tract and airway.

Causes of Hives

Ingestion or Inhalation

When the source of hives can be determined, most cases are caused by ingestion of a substance. Drugs can suddenly cause hives even if the person has been taking them for years. Many foods or food additives can also cause hives suddenly, even in small amounts.

Dermatographism. The name of this condition literally means “write on the skin.” When pressure is applied to the skin or the skin is scratched, raised lines appear on those areas due to histamine-based angioedema that leads to swelling beneath the skin.

Symptoms of Hives

Wheals or welts come and go on the skin or mucous membranes. These may itch intensely, itch only a little, or not itch at all.

varied in size, with some being smaller than your child’s finger tip and other’s larger than a half-dollar size. Also, hives can often merge or join to form even larger hives that, for example, can cover half of your child’s abdomen.

Treatment of Hives

Urticarias can be very difficult to treat. There are no guaranteed treatments or means of controlling attacks, and some sub-populations are treatment resistant, with medications spontaneously losing their effectiveness and requiring new medications to control attacks. It can be difficult to determine appropriate medications since some such as loratadine require a day or two to build up to effective levels, and since the condition is intermittent and outbreaks typically clear up without any treatment.

Many antihistamines are available without prescription, such as diphenhydramine (Benadryl), taken in doses of 25 milligrams and chlorpheniramine (Chlor-Trimeton), taken in a dose of 4 milligrams. These can be taken up to three times a day, but because these medications can cause drowsiness, they are often taken at bedtime.

The most notorious such test was cytotoxic testing, which was promoted during the early 1980s by storefront clinics, laboratories, nutrition consultants, chiropractors, and medical doctors. Advocates claimed it could determine sensitivity to food, which they blamed for asthma, arthritis, constipation, diarrhea, hypertension, obesity, stomach disorders, and many other conditions

Treatment for Hives

Although useful in treating hives and angioedema, these medications are often ineffective in treating hereditary angioedema. Medications used specifically to treat HAE on a long-term basis include certain androgens, such as danazol (Danocrine), that help regulate levels of blood proteins.

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