How to treat urticaria

In most cases, urticaria is an allergic reaction, but it can be a sign of a disease. Symptoms of hives are known to all: on the body appear pale pink flatblisters that resemble a nettle burn (actually, therefore, urticaria and got its name). Blisters strongly itch, therefore the attack of a urticaria - sensation not from pleasant. Since no one is immune from allergies, it is important to know how to treat hives.

Urticaria is acute and chronic. The acute form lasts from a few hours toseveral days, and in some cases even a couple of weeks. Chronic can take months or even years, with periods of exacerbation of the disease alternating with "quiet periods". As allergens that cause hives, most often appear drugs or food. Also, hives can occur with insect bites.

Treatment for urticaria, like any allergic reaction, should be complex. The most important thing is to establish an allergen that caused urticaria, otherwise the seizures will repeat, no matter how manyantihistamines you did not drink. Of course, if you took any medications (or you were bitten by an insect) shortly before the attack of hives, it will not be easy to determine the allergen. And what if you are allergic to food, and you do not know what kind of product it caused?

In this case, you can help treat hiveshypoallergenic diet. The essence of it is this: at the first stage you exclude from the diet all potential allergens. There are only low-allergenic products: low-fat stew or boiled meat, sour-milk products, offal, rice, olive oil, some fruits (mostly white and green). When the urticaria passes, gradually introduce into the diet excluded foods with an interval of three days. If after some product hives again - this is the allergen.

It is clear that one diet can not remove an attack of acute urticaria. It is usually advised to treat hives with antihistamines of a new generation. To soothe the itch, you can usecold compresses or special lotions. If the case is severe, the doctor may prescribe corticosteroids, and if there is a severe edema that threatens life, inject active steroids and epinephrine (epinephrine), but usually this does not happen.

In chronic urticaria the doctor conducts a thorough investigation to find out the exact cause of the disease, because chronic urticaria may not be causedonly an allergy, but also a chronic infection, a metabolic disorder, diseases of internal organs and other diseases. In this case, you must first treat the underlying disease.

Usually, chronic hives are prescribed antihistamines, anti-inflammatory and detoxifying agents. Prescribes their doctor, because only he can determine the optimal combination of drugs. Also, chronic hives show a hypoallergenic diet and minimize contact with potential allergens (including domestic).

You can try to treat hives with folk remedies (in case of acute urticaria, with chronic it is better not to experiment). The folk treatment of urticaria consists in the use of infusions and decoctions of herbs: both inside and for baths. For example, in the bath you can add a decoction of herbs of turn, celandine, St. John's wort, sage, valerian root and camomile flowers. All ingredients are taken in equal proportions. And inside you can take infusion of jasper or juice from a fresh celery root.

It is best not to try to treat hives yourself: consult a doctor who will help youdetermine the allergen (if urticaria is caused by an allergy) or the underlying disease, and then select the optimal method of treatment. Self-medication should not be engaged, however, this applies to the vast majority of diseases, and not just hives.