Urticaria – An Overview
Do you get hives?
Does your skin become red after itching?
Do your lips and eyes become swollen?
Then you may be suffering from URTICARIA!!!
What is urticaria?
Urticaria is a skin condition in which multiple red raised edematous lesions can develop on any part of the body accompanied with itching. The lesions usually last for few minutes to hours. In some cases, there is swelling of the lips or around the eyes which is known as angioedema.
Urticaria can present at any age with lifetime prevalence of 20%. In 80-90% of cases, no underlying cause can be found. In the rest, the triggers can be medicine (pain killers, antibiotics, aspirin etc) food allergens (nuts, sea food, mushrooms etc), infections (viral infections, urinary tract infections, stomach infections etc), insect bite.
Sometimes physical stimuli like cold, pressure, sunlight etc can precipitate this condition in susceptible individuals. In rare cases, systemic diseases like celiac disease, sjogren’s syndrome, lymphoma, SLE can present with urticarial rash.
How to diagnose urticaria?
Skin specialists diagnose urticaria based on history and physical examination. A detailed history helps to identify possible triggers. On physical examination, the doctor tests for dermographism (i.e urticaria that appears in the pattern of localized pressure elicited by stroking with the blunt end of a pen).
Your dermatologist may advise a few tests like thyroid function test, differential and total leucocyte counts, urine routine examination etc to find the underlying cause. Allergy testing is not routinely recommended.
Classification of urticaria
It is classified according to its duration.
- Acute (< 6 weeks duration, and often gone within hours to days)
- Chronic (> 6 weeks duration, with daily or episodic weals)
Chronic urticaria may be spontaneous or inducible. Both types may co-exist.
What are the treatments?
Treatment includes possible avoidance of allergens and use of antihistamines in appropriate doses. Second generation antihistamines like levocetrizine, fexofenadine, desloratadine etc are preferred because of their good efficiency and lesser side effects. Consult your nearest dermatologist for the best medication to control the urticarial rash.
If the symptoms are severe, short course of corticosteroids is added. In some cases, immunosuppressives like cyclosporine and omalizumab injections are prescribed. More than one-half of patients with chronic urticaria have resolution or improvement of symptoms within a year.
Once the symptoms are controlled, the medicines are slowly tapered. It is a distressing condition but it can be easily controlled under the guidance of an experienced skin specialist. To know more about this skin condition and for best treatment consult us at +(91) 92572 21456.
