Managing hives isn’t easy, but there are lots sites on the Internet that will help you in managing urticaria. They mainly deal with the correct evaluation of patterns and causes where possible, and avoiding potential ‘triggers’ that cause reactions in the skin. Good diet practices should also be adhered to because the overall health of the body will hinder the condition from continuing.

One site to visit when learning about managing urticaria is Infoallergy.com. This site suggests identifying aggravating factors that could make the urticaria worse. Some of these include avoiding situations like taking aspirin, overheating, wearing tight clothing, and stress. If patients do not respond well to antihistamines, they should talk to their doctor about taking a higher dose or about any other medications that may be available.

Mayoclinic.com has excellent advice on managing urticaria, as well as many other conditions. They suggest do a little work before seeing your doctor, such as writing down what your experiencing and personal information about stress and life changes. Also, you should write down a list of all the medications, vitamins, and supplements that you are taking as well as a list of questions to ask your doctor.

This site also suggests ways to relieve your symptoms. These include wearing light, loose fitting clothing and other ways to avoid irritating the affected area. The recommends taking over-the-counter anti-histamines until you can get in to see your doctor, and cooling the affected area with a shower, fan, cool cloth or soothing lotion.

Home Treatment

There are lots of things that you can do to treat and sooth your symptoms at home. Many people turn to home remedies for managing urticaria because anti-histamines are simply not enough, or they make people too drowsy to cope. Also, many home remedies offer long term solutions that conventional medicines can’t. Yet, any type of remedy should always be discussed with your physician beforehand.

Home-remedies-for-you.com suggests taking cool baths and showers, applying vitamin E oil to the affected area. Adding corn starch and baking soda to luke-warm water is helpful in managing urticaria, and so applying a mixture of oatmeal and hot water. Herbal teas such as chamomile and peppermint teas are suggested by the site for managing hives, and so are foods rich in zinc and vitamins C and E.

Ayurvediccure.com offers some of the same advice, however they add much more. They suggest nettle tea with honey or lemon flavor, as nettles are considered to be able to heal hives. Applying Aloe Vera to the affected area is said to be a trusted home remedy to help with managing hives. In addition, the herb is said to have healing properties.

In diagnosing hives, a very detailed history must be given to determine the duration of the hives.  Hives can be either chronic or acute. Acute hives last for less than six weeks and chronic hives last longer than six weeks. Diagnosing chronic hives is more involved than diagnosing acute hives, but it is important to make the distinction as chronic hives can be caused by more serious underlying problems.

Chronic hives are known as physical urticaria when a specific stimulus triggers hives in certain people. According to Dermatolotgy.about.com, different types of urticaria include:

Dermographism – This type of physical hives is very common. The hives are produced suddenly by rubbing or stroking the skin.

Pressure Urticaria – This type is difficult to diagnose, but is fairly common.  In this type, hives are produced hours after applying pressure to the skin.

Cholinergic Urticaria – Hives appear shortly after or during exercise.

Exercise Induced Anaphylaxis – Hives, shortness of breath, and dizziness after exercising are symptoms of this rare disorder. People with this disorder may pass out or go into shock.

Cold Urticaria – These hives are produced with exposure to cold water, ice, or sudden drops in temperature.

Solar Urticaria – Hives of this kind occur minutes after exposure to the sun and disappear soon after.

Steps in Diagnosis

It usually doesn’t take a lot for the doctor to diagnose the pink or red bumps or slightly raised patches of skin as hives. However, he will have trouble knowing for sure the cause, although with a detailed story, sometimes it is easy enough to figure out what triggered the reaction. If you get hives a lot, or you have a serious reaction, your doctor may send you to an allergy specialist.

You will probably be asked to make a list of family members who have allergic reactions. You will need to inform the physician about other health conditions that run in your family, or that you currently have because many types of conditions can be the underlying cause of hives or skin rashes. Sometimes your doctor or the allergy specialist will order a series of skin tests to find out what you are allergic to.

If you and your doctor have trouble identifying what is causing your case of hives, you should keep a journal to prevent future outbreaks. First make a list of external irritants that may have triggered your hives, such as new laundry detergents, soaps, and cosmetics. Next, you should list any foods or medicines that you have ingested. Continue keeping track until you can narrow down what is triggering your reactions.

Acupressure hives treatment uses the same points as acupuncture hives treatment, but acupuncture employs needles and acupressure uses the gentle but firm pressure of the hands are feet. Like acupuncture, acupressure is an ancient art of healing as well, and it also uses the surface of the skin to stimulate the body’s self-curative abilities. In addition it promotes blood circulation and releases muscle tension.

Acupressure is one of the most effective alternative treatments out there. There is a lot of data showing that it is a great method of treatment for hives and other skin conditions. One of the advantages of acupressure hives treatments, over other treatments, is that it is safe enough to practice on your own or with others. This is of course if you follow instructions and pay attention to any cautions given.

Before you start, here are some of the warnings concerning acupressure treatments given by Onlineartdirector.com:

• Do not use to replace emergency procedures or licensed medical treatment.
• Use only as a treatment for illness, continue seeing your doctor
• Do not use if you have a heart condition
• Do not use within 20 minutes before or after heavy exercise
• Do not use if you are pregnant
• Do not use acupressure point if it is under a mole, wart, varicose vein, abrasion, bruise, cut, or break in the skin

Acupressure Hives Method

A person who wants to practice acupressure hives treatment on themselves or anyone else should spend more time learning about the technique; however, the following information should give you a general idea of how it all works. Herbalshop.com lists these and other acupressure points for skin conditions. They include:

Heavenly Pillar: Located one-half inch below the base of the skull, on the ropy muscles one-half inch outward from either side of the spine.

Three Mile Point: Located four finger widths below the kneecap, toward the outside to the shinbone.

Third Eye Point: Directly between your eyebrows in the indention where the bridge of the nose meets the center of the forehead.

The following method of hives acupressure treatment can be found at Onlineartdirector.com (please visit the site for more information):

To stimulate the acupoint properly, you must use deep probing pressure with your fingertip, knuckle, or the eraser side of a pencil. Start by exploring the area with deep probing pressure, until the point announces itself with a sharp twinge. It will start a jolt, and then become a numbing sensation or tingling. It may be quite a shock the first time you do it, but your sensitivity decreases over time.

When you have found the right the right point, just apply pressure for 15 to 30 seconds. Repeat on the same point on the other side of the body. Immediate relief should be felt. You may feel a release of tension, sinus drainage, perspiration, or even belch or pass gas. Points on opposite sides of the body may have different effects, and that is ok, but if symptoms increase stops using that point.

Hereditary angioedema treatment is not something that is a simple black and white answer to a problem. This is due to the fact that this is a very common illness which can affect people in just about any group imaginable. Obviously the most telltale sign of a risk of a hereditary illness is family history, and any child born into a family prone to the illness should be tested for it at an early age.

Hereditary angioedema is one of several forms of angeioedema which can occur in the human body, all having similar symptoms but somewhat unique causes. The other primary type of angioedema is called “acquired angioedema”. The acquired form is more of a symptom of a greater problem, due to an irritant or universal allergen being introduced into the body’s system. Common examples of this are drug reactions and some chemical or dust particulate reactions that are well-documented.

The symptoms of most forms of angioedema are the swelling of the epidermis (or outer layer of skin) in the face or other parts of the body. Common side effects of this can be difficulty breathing, the swelling shut of orifices, and in more severe cases lack of mobility. In facial angioedema, one of the more common ways it manifests, it’s not uncommon for the eyes and sometimes mouth to swell to where they can not open. In some cases, swelling can occur in the throat as well, constricting the larynx, which is potentially quite fatal.

Now, the big difference with hereditary angioedema is that it is due to an allergy a person genetically has, or a sensitivity to other stimuli which a person who does not have the illness will not be susceptible to. In hereditary cases, there is usually a common, repeating stimulus in the family which causes resurgence of the symptoms.

Hereditary Angeioedema Treatments

Treatments, as said before depend on the hereditary angioedema symptoms that are being experienced, as well as some factors in body chemistry and family history. Hereditary illnesses tend to be harder to give as blanket treatment solution to due to the wide array of variables that must be dealt with.

One of the best forms of hereditary angioedema treatments are to be proactive and avoid encountering the stimulus or stimuli which may provoke the symptoms to arise. However, this is of course not always possible. One cannot hide from the world at large, and one can never be certain that all stimuli which cause the symptoms have been documented in their specific case. This can result in surprise (unpleasant) discovery of a new irritant factor at any time.

In cases where the symptoms are particularly severe and even life threatening, medical assistance is tantamount. Most physicians will use a method of synthesizing C1 inhibitors, a substance the body usually to fight such severe swelling. In some cases, they can introduce medications which can actually prevent the rapid consumption of the body’s natural C1 inhibitors as well.

While there is no magical cure to eradicate the disease, or make the symptoms suddenly vanish, most medical facilities are very well-equipped to fight severe outbreaks of angioedema swelling in hereditary or acquired cases. However, in daily life, the most practical thing is to be cautious and to know what stimuli are known to cause one’s outbreaks in the first place.

Being proactive is often the best medicine in daily living.

Facial angioedema is a form of swelling caused in the epidermis, or the top layer of the human skin. This illness is caused in one of two ways, and for each of these there is in fact a specific name. Acquired facial angioedema is caused by allergic reactions to outside stimuli, and is one of the common symptoms of many food or skin allergies with which people suffer.

However, allergic reactions are not the only cause of this illness, as it can also be genetic if passed by the dominant gene in pairing. Regardless of the cause of this illness though, the symptoms of it are fairly identical across the board, and depending on person and severity of the cause, can vary in level of seriousness.

Facial angioedema symptoms are fairly easy to detect, allowing response time to the illness to be fairly quick once one knows what to look for. A common case of facial angioedema swelling will result in puffed skin on the face, often in the cheeks and eyelids. Someoen suffering from this swelling may be unable to either open or close their mouth to speak, and often cannot open their eyes during the height of the swelling.

The severity of this illness comes not from the swelling effect of the skin itself, but rather what can be a side effect of this swelling. Temporary blindness due to the inability to open one’s eyes is not only alarming and unpleasant, but can be downright dangerous for many reasons. This can render a person unable to function normally for periods of time, and can be quite distressing as well.

Another problem can be the inability to eat or take in fluids, if the swelling has caused troubles using the mouth. Dehydration or lack of sufficient nutrition can be a result of prolonged facial angioedema, and are not something to be taken lightly in that scenario. A related side effect of swelling around the mouth can be some difficulty breathing, which if severe enough is far more dangerous than dehydration or lack of nutrition.

Reaction to facial angioedema swelling depends on the patient’s history, and how long the current instance of swelling has taken place. Acquired facial angioedema is the result of allergic reactions, and is something to be addressed immediately as the allergy may have other problems alongside the swelling that can be more serious yet.

For patients with genetic facial angioedema, it depends more on the aforementioned history of the patient. If they have a history of prolonged swelling when symptoms flare up, then it’s important to be proactive and respond immediately when the patient shows signs of swelling. However, if the patient is prone to very short-lived swelling on occasion, due to a milder case of the illness, then less concern is necessary.

Treating facial angioedema swelling

In cases of allergic or acquired facial angeioedema swelling, the treatment is usually to address the allergy or irritant itself, rather than the swelling. Considering the allergy is the cause of the swelling, this should eventually remedy the problem.

However, when it comes to hereditary swelling, the treatment is a bit more direct to the swelling itself. The swelling is still due to some form of stimuli (external cause), as it can’t just randomly happen for no reason on its own. This is a case of knowing a patient’s history, and avoiding the stimuli known to cause swelling relapses in the patient.

No two patients are identical, as the human body is a diverse and complicated machine. It is best to consult a doctor whenever hereditary swelling occurs, as they are the best equipped to determine which stimuli may have caused it, and what to do to address these in the future.