What are the causes and treatments of urticaria?

Urticaria is a common and extremely harmful skin disease, including allergic urticaria, which is mostly caused by allergic mechanisms. In this case, taking allergy drugs in time will do; cold urticaria, which is mostly caused by contact with cold things; and factitious urticaria, which is caused by people's bad living habits, such as eating a lot of irritating foods.

1. Allergic urticaria

Allergic urticaria is mostly caused by allergic mechanisms. Every time an attack occurs, the hands and feet are extremely itchy, the limbs are numb, breathing is difficult, the head is numb, and then some soybean-sized blister-like rashes will appear on the body. I had been to the street before each attack, and the attacks usually occurred at night. When an attack occurs, take some medicine and it will disappear completely in about 3 hours. Patients should pay attention to this.

2. Cold urticaria

Some people will have itchy skin when they are exposed to cold wind every winter, and even hives will appear on the exposed skin or the parts that come into contact with cold objects when they come into contact with cold wind, cold water or cold objects. In severe cases, numbness of hands and lips, chest tightness, palpitations, abdominal pain, diarrhea, fainting and even shock may occur. Cold shock is one of the causes of death from drowning. Sometimes eating cold drinks can cause swelling of the mouth and larynx. Sometimes cold urticaria is not a simple skin disease, but a symptom caused by other diseases, such as cryoglobulinemia, paroxysmal cold hemoglobinuria, cryofibrinogenemia, cold hemolysis, etc. If you find such symptoms, you should go to the hospital in time.

3. Symptoms of factitious urticaria

Some people suddenly become unable to withstand scratching without knowing when. After scratching their skin with their hands or scratching their skin with a blunt object, strip-like bumps appear along the scratches, accompanied by itching, which soon subsides. Symptoms of cholestatic urticaria: More common in young people, the rash appears after exercise, heat, emotional stress, or eating hot food. The rash is very small and mostly spreads to the chest and upper limbs, and is extremely itchy. It disappears within half an hour to an hour, or after rinsing with cold water. Young friends should pay more attention in their lives.

4. Symptoms of papular urticaria

Papular urticaria is mostly caused by insect bites and is common in infants and children. The skin lesions are often round or fusiform wheal-like lesions with needle-sized to bean-sized blisters on the top, which are distributed scattered or in clusters. It often occurs on the extensor side of the limbs, trunk and buttocks. Generally, the skin lesions will disappear on their own after several days to a week, leaving temporary pigmentation spots. Skin lesions often appear in batches and last for a period of time. Papular urticaria is extremely itchy and may cause pyoderma due to repeated scratching.

5. Cholestatic urticaria

When the body temperature rises slightly due to heat, mental stress, intake of hot food or drink, or after exercise, the increased blood flow stimulates the brain's temperature regulation center, excites the choleretic nerves and releases acetylcholine. If you are allergic to this chemical, an allergic reaction may occur. This type of allergic reaction, in addition to having no rash but only a tingling and severe itching sensation, may also cause red wheals about 2 mm in size to appear on the skin of the trunk and proximal limbs (except the armpits, palms and soles). These wheals come and go quickly without leaving any trace.

For the above types of urticaria, the treatment mostly uses oral antihistamines and corticosteroids for temporary suppression, such as oral Western medicine, oral hormones, external solution lotions, emulsions, mud pastes, oils, ointments, emulsions, coatings, tinctures and plasters, etc. However, given that everyone's physical condition is different, it is recommended that patients should consult a doctor first and not take medicine blindly.