Itchy Hives

Itchy hives are the type of rashes that appear on the skin due to non-allergic as well as allergic reasons. You can observe the itchy hives by the presence of wheals that are pale yellow, red and extremely itchy. There are two types of itchy hives: acute hives and chronic hives. Acute hives disappear after a short period of time or within a few hours after appearing. These hives usually occur in response to certain allergies. The second type of hives is chronic hives, which lasts for a longer time. It usually lasts for more than six weeks and rarely occurs due to an allergy.

Itchy hives are swollen bumps and redness on various parts of the body. Hives are generally itchy because the swelling occurs in the epidermis. The intensity of itchiness of itching hives varies from person to person and case to case. The size of itchy hives varies from few millimeters to several inches in diameter. Itchy hives can be round or they can form rings or large patches. It can occur anywhere on the body such as arms, legs and trunk. It is estimated that15% of all people will develop itchy hives at some point of time in their lives.

Itchy hives are one of the most common problems of our day to day life but we mostly ignore it. We believe that a couple of antibiotics are enough to avoid its reoccurrence. It is important for us to know the reason for the occurrence of hives so as to know the disease better and so its solutions. Itchy hives can appear due to various reasons from our variable lifestyles. Itchy hives can associated with acute body reactions like swelling of the eyes, ears and lips and can alter the look of the sufferer.

Causes of itchy hives:

Itchy hives are developed by histamine and other compounds released from cells called mast cells. Histamine leads fluid to leak from the local blood vessels, leading swelling and itching in the skin. Itchy hives usually disappear on their own over a period of weeks and are rarely medically serious. Some hives are cause by allergies to such things as medications, insect stings and foods, however large numbers of itchy hives cases are not allergic. The specific cause for them is unidentified.

Home remedies for itchy hives:

People suffering form itchy hives mostly use antihistamines to cure it; however, they often cause drowsiness. There are also several natural treatments that work well to relieve to relieve the allergic reaction of hives.

1. Jewelweed: It includes a compound called lawsone that is effective for treating itching hives. If you're going to use this treatment, fresh jewelweed is the best. You can crush the jewelweed and then gently rub it on the affected area. It works wonders for itchy hives and you will feel the effects almost immediately.
2. Stinging nettle: Although nettles cause a rash when it comes in touch with skin if taken orally. It is advisable to drink nettle tea three to four times a day to relieve itchy hives. Nettle is also available in tablet form.
3. Camomile: It includes seven antihistamine compounds. Either you can drink plain camomile tea or you can add other antihistamine herbs such as basil, fennel, tarragon and oregano in it. One easy way to apply camomile to hives is to dip a clean cloth into the tea and apply directly to hives. Camomile is a part of the ragweed family so if you are allergic to ragweed then use camomile with care.

You can try cool baths, cold compresses and ice cubes to ease the itching of hives. Try to stay cool because cold shrinks the blood vessels and keeps them from swelling. Cold also controls the allergic reaction by slowing the body's discharge of histamine. You can also add mint to the ice cubes to increase the cooling effect.