Allergies can manifest in a variety of ways. Their symptoms can include hives, sickness in the form of queasiness, red eyes and asthma. Hives are of particular interest because of their appearance. They present as reddish bumps on the skin that eventually disappear before resurfacing on a different part of the body.

Hives can be triggered by factors other than allergies. So they constitute a complex condition for which any generalizations have to be qualified. It is, however, safe to say that, when hives are triggered by an allergy, they tend to manifest shortly after exposure to the allergen, and then to eventually resolve. If one is not subsequently exposed to the allergen again, there is no reason for the symptoms to recur. Thus, avoiding the factors that one is allergic to is often an effective way to prevent recurrent bouts of allergic hives.

It sometimes takes medical tests to link hives to an allergy and to identify the precise substance to which one is allergic. A simple principle lies behind the more basic tests employed in the diagnosis of allergies like hives: Sickness symptoms that develop shortly after exposure to a substance often indicate that one is allergic to that substance.

Tests for Hives Sickness

The first step taken by allergists in diagnosing hives often involves asking their patients to keep a diary of their activities, diet and medication, beginning with the period just before their hives appeared. If a patient recently started using a new body lotion and immediately thereafter developed hives, then this would be made evident by the diary. The diary would also show how the patient reacted if he was re-exposed to the allergen or if he wasn’t exposed to it again. Simple tests would be able to confirm whether the lotion was responsible for triggering the hives. A doctor would use allergy skin testing to confirm the diagnosis of allergic hives. Sickness such as suspected urticarial vasculitis, a more serious hives-like condition, would be approached differently: instead of allergy skin testing, a doctor would opt for a skin biopsy.

When it seems likely that a patient has an allergy to a food item, then the doctor can have her take tests designed to diagnose food allergies. One of them requires the patient’s avoidance of the problem food for some time. If there are no allergy symptoms until the patient next eats the food, then an allergy diagnosis is confirmed. Another one involves trying out different foods under the doctor’s observation and seeing if they trigger hives. Sickness that develops in response to this test can be considered to confirm a food allergy.

Urticaria is a common complaint. In many cases it lasts briefly and the person can soon go back to life as usual. Knowing hives’ stages can help a person figure out whether the condition is a minor annoyance that can be resolved quickly, or a serious condition for which medical help will be necessary.

The Progression of Hives’ Stages

In the experience of many people, there are no obvious warning signs that indicate that hives is on the way. The condition just appears out of the blue. It starts out as itchy skin and, afterward, wheals start to appear on the skin. This, the first of hives’ stages can be mildly alarming. Wheals come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Sometimes they stand alone, but other times they merge. On a light-complexioned person, they may be reddish, pinkish or milky white in color.

In the next of hives’ stages, the individual wheals disappear, only to reappear elsewhere. Depending on the particular variety of hives, they may be concentrated on certain body parts like the trunk and limbs or just on the body part that was directly exposed to an allergen. The wheals continue to disappear and reappear on the body and, with them, the itching and discomfort persist. In most cases, when they disappear they do so without leaving any scars.

Hives’ stages can vary considerably from person to person. In some people, the condition is mild. Itching, discomfort and some wheals are all that characterize it and then, in a matter of hours, it is over. In other people, hives come with fatigue, nausea and vomiting, fever, stomachache and diarrhea. The complications can progress to pain in the chest and throat, and breathing difficulty. If this form of complicated hives is allowed to proceed without intervention, it could end in suffocation and, ultimately, brain damage or death.

Hives can also be classified in two forms: acute hives and chronic hives. The acute form tends to last a few hours to six weeks while the chronic form lasts more than six weeks. A three month-long case of hives falls under the rubric of chronic hives, as does a two decade-long case.

The length of hives’ stages will obviously vary with its forms. Acute cases end in a few hours, days or weeks. Their stages do not stretch out indefinitely, without any relief in sight. Chronic hives can be the exact opposite, negatively affecting a patient’s quality of life indefinitely.

Medical science has identified a number of possible triggers for hives, and kidney disease, liver disease, thyroid disorders and other metabolic diseases are among them. Allergies have also been cited as possible triggers of hives, as have autoimmune diseases and bacterial and viral infections.

It is worth noting that there is some degree of overlap between the categories described above. For instance, hepatitis B is a liver disease that is caused by a virus. Other examples are thyroid disorders like Grave’s disease, hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s disease, which are also autoimmune diseases.

Metabolic processes are essentially the wide range of chemical reactions that make life possible: they help the body to produce energy, to break down large molecules into smaller ones that can be used in other reactions, and they also synthesize molecules. Metabolic disorders affect many of these chemical reactions. A metabolic disorder that negatively impacts the synthesis of one enzyme could easily disrupt multiple chemical pathways. This could, in turn, provoke a number of conditions, among them hives and kidney disease.

Emphasizing the role that metabolic disorders play in triggering hives is a particularly useful way to think about hives. This is because the various factors that trigger hives tend to be associated with dysfunction in one or more bodily systems. All bodily systems are connected by complex metabolic processes. So it should not come as a surprise when a disorder or dysfunction in one organ triggers symptoms in a completely different organ. In fact, when one thinks of things in this way, it seems to follow that, under certain circumstances, hives and kidney disease would be associated with each other. Hives has actually been described as a cutaneous manifestation of various systemic diseases.

Treating Metabolic Disorders: Approaches to Hives and Kidney Disease

One of the suggestions made for treating metabolic disorders is to modify the diet to reduce the body’s intake of nutrients that it cannot metabolize appropriately. Another one is to supplement the diet with nutrients that will help enhance the affected enzyme systems. Enzyme replacement can also be helpful. These techniques could be helpful in treating both hives and kidney disease as these are both conditions that can fall under the rubric of metabolic disorders.

Severe chronic hives, kidney disease, liver disease and thyroid disorders all significantly decrease the quality of life experienced by patients. Hence, these patients would welcome the opportunity to address them effectively if such an opportunity was afforded by the forms of treatment mentioned above.

The causes of hives in women include the same factors that trigger hives in the general population, namely food, insect bites, toxins, infections, physical stimuli and others. However, it is also true that there is a higher incidence of chronic urticaria or hives among women than among men. Additionally, some situations that only women experience play a role in triggering hives among a number of them. Such situations include pregnancy, the use of contraceptives and menopause. In these three situations, the changes in the hormonal levels are considered causes of hives in women.

If a woman on contraceptives develops sensitivity to their constituent hormones or other components, she could respond by developing hives. Women experiencing menopause undergo a lot of physiological changes which, in turn, affect their psychological well-being. It is not unheard of for them to experience fluctuating hormonal levels and tremendous stress. Both of these factors are causes of hives in women: increased sensitivity to either estrogen or progesterone could result in hives as could the increased production of cortisol and adrenalin, two stress-associated hormones.

Pregnant women have also been known to develop hives. The drastic bodily changes that they experience, including hormonal fluctuations are causes of hives in women. Hives can occur at any stage during pregnancy. Their duration varies, ultimately depending on the presence of triggering factors. They may present on a pregnant woman’s face, back, breasts, abdomen, arms, or on the back of her legs. The symptoms tend to disappear completely within a few weeks of delivery.

Pregnant women who develop hives usually have no cause for worry. While the condition causes them a lot of discomfort, it is not a threat to their babies’ health. They are generally advised not to take medication like steroids unless their symptoms are severe. This is because such medication would affect their pregnancies. However, they can use various remedies to help relieve the discomfort.

What Causes Hives On Buttocks?

A condition known as Pruritic Urticarial Papules and Plaques of Pregnancy (PUPPP), which is similar to hives, commonly occurs during the last trimester of pregnancy. The hive-like rash of PUPPP tends to occur on the buttocks, thighs, arms and elsewhere on the woman’s body. It itches severely and is highly sensitive. A good part of the reason for this is the fast growth typical of pregnancy and the resultant stretching of the woman’s skin. Pregnant women who seek to understand what causes hives on buttocks are more likely than not to be suffering from PUPPP.

While there isn’t too much data on the clinical association of celiac disease and hives, at least one past study has shown a strong link between the two conditions. The study in question was conducted in Italy in 2005, and it involved the screening for celiac disease of 79 children who were known to have oral antihistamine-resistant chronic hives. The results were compared to those of 2545 healthy controls.

The outcome of the study was that celiac disease was diagnosed in 5% of the group that had chronic idiopathic hives, while only 0.67% of children in the control group were found to have celiac disease. The occurrence of celiac disease in the hives-stricken group was concluded to be significantly more frequent than the occurrence of celiac disease in the control group.

The children with both chronic hives and celiac disease were subsequently fed a gluten-free diet. After a period of 5 to 10 weeks, their chronic hives cleared completely. However, their celiac disease serological tests remained abnormal until they had been on the gluten-free diet for 5 to 9-month.

If once considers the results of the study meaningful, then it is apparent that, in this particular group of children, chronic hives were related to the mechanism by which allergic reactions to gluten were triggered. This is obviously not the case for all cases of chronic idiopathic hives, but it does suggest a possible line of investigation for medical researchers who want to understand hives better.

When the Association between Celiac Disease and Hives Is Not Statistically Significant

A second study to investigate the relationship between celiac disease and hives was also conducted in Italy. This time, the subjects were 80 adult patients with chronic idiopathic hives and a control group of 264 blood donors (none of whom had a history of chronic idiopathic hives). Out of the patients with idiopathic chronic hives, 1.25% tested positive for celiac disease.  Out of the control group, only 0.38% tested positive for celiac disease.

The association between celiac disease and hives (of the chronic, idiopathic variety) proved to be statistically insignificant. Hence, the researchers concluded that, as far as the population they tested was concerned, patients with chronic idiopathic hives were not more likely to have celiac disease than the hives-free general population.

The different conclusions suggested by the 2 studies make the case for devoting more time to studies on the clinical association between celiac disease and hives. It would especially make sense to conduct a comparative study of both child and adult populations using equally-sized control groups.

A number of infections have been known to trigger hives. Bacteria such as Helicobacter pylori and various other infections are included among them. Urticaria, bacteria and other infections are thus linked in a number of cases.

A number of studies have been done on hives patients suffering from stomach ulcers. In these cases, the stomach ulcers were attributable to infection with Helicobacter pylori. It emerged that, when these patients were successfully treated for the bacterial infection, they were cured of the stomach ulcers and there was also a quick resolution to their hives. Bacteria, more specifically Helicobacter pylori, were shown to be linked to the hives in these cases. It must be pointed out that many of these studies were not conclusive. However, they did indicate that the investigation of the connection between hives and various infections was worthy of further pursuit.

As the first paragraph above suggests, Helicobacter pylori is not the only bacterial infection that has been linked to hives. Others, like cystitis and tonsillitis have been linked to acute hives. As for chronic urticaria, bacteria and other infections in the gastrointestinal tract, the dental region, and the ear, nose and throat region have been linked to it.

Studies completed in the past have shown a connection between the eradication of such infections and the resolution of associated attacks of chronic urticaria. To give an example, yersiniosis is an urticaria-associated gastrointestinal infection whose treatment with antibiotics has brought about the resolution of hives. So are the pharyngitis, tonsillitis, otitis and sinusitis that result from streptococcal or staphylococcal infection. Often, testing for the relevant antibodies is done to show the presence of these infections. Their subsequent eradication using antibiotics confirms the connection between them and hives.

Increased Vulnerability to Hives: Bacteria and Other Infections

The exact mechanisms by which the infections outlined above trigger hives remain a mystery. However, there is evidence to suggest that gastrointestinal infections like Helicobacter pylori have the capacity to influence the development of disorders in other organ systems. Thus, the infections could understandably trigger the development of skin diseases and autoimmune diseases.

The relative ease with which hives have been resolved in the cases of infection described above is diametrically opposed to the complicated and often ineffective treatment of hives using such drugs as corticosteroids. The former treatment eliminates the apparent cause of the hives while the latter only addresses its symptoms. This comparison makes the case for testing for bacterial and other infection during the diagnosis of a given patient’s urticaria.

Hives can be triggered by a number of factors, including infections, physical stimuli, food and medication. In some cases it is appropriate to refer to hives as immune hives: Immune system changes make the body more prone to developing urticaria. Immune system disorders or diseases have also been implicated in triggering hives.

It is theorized that approximately half of all cases of chronic idiopathic hives are triggered by an overactive immune system. Hives of this kind are, thus, associated with immune system attacks on the body’s own cells. That the immune system is overactive can be confirmed by testing for autoantibodies. One might refer to the associated hives as autoimmune hives.  Some speculate that this form of hives is a primary autoimmune disorder all its own, distinct from those hives that are triggered by autoimmune diseases like thyroid disease and lupus.

That autoimmune hives have an immune system trigger is also supported by the additional symptoms or conditions that may be exhibited by the patient: vitiligo, swelling in the joints and specific abnormalities in the blood. Some might dismiss the existence of a connection between the hives and these other symptoms, describing it as nothing more than a coincidence. However, in doing so they would be dismissing the bigger picture: No organ or organ system functions in complete isolation from the others. Even if one were able to demonstrate that there was no direct link between the hives and the other autoimmune symptoms, there would likely be some indirect but significant connection.

Hives and Immune System Disorders

The relationship between hives and immune system dysfunction can be further investigated by devoting some attention to known autoimmune diseases and their association with urticaria. Immune system diseases such as Grave’s disease and Hashimoto’s disease were shown to be significantly associated with hives in at least one medical study: The patients had chronic hives and also tested positively for thyroid autoantibodies. The association between hives and the presence of thyroid autoantibodies was statistically significant, suggesting that autoimmune thyroid disease had played a role in triggering the hives.

Immune system diseases like multiple sclerosis and lupus have been linked to chronic hives as indicated earlier in this article. It is worth noting that chronic idiopathic hives have some striking parallels to a number of autoimmune diseases: A lot remains unknown about their causes and about the mechanisms by which they develop. In addition, the medications taken to treat them are geared more towards managing the symptoms than towards curing the condition.

Some patients have been known to experience Lyme disease and hives simultaneously. Hence, the possibility of a connection between them is worth exploring. Sometimes the coincidence is seen as evidence that Lyme disease is a trigger for hives. Lyme disease also happens to be thought of as “the great imitator”: hence, it has been suggested that the Lyme disease rash occasionally mimics hives.

Notwithstanding the coincidences mentioned above, there are important differences between hives and Lyme disease. For one, Lyme disease is an infectious, tick-borne bacterial infection. Hives are not infectious, though. They tend to manifest as symptoms in a wide range of circumstances, including bacterial infections, viral infections, autoimmune diseases and allergic reactions. Thus, it is not entirely strange for one to speculate that, in some people, Lyme disease, a bacterial infection, might trigger hives.

Another difference between Lyme disease and hives is that Lyme disease has the capacity to provoke neurocognitive symptoms, while hives do not. Lyme disease is also unlike hives in the sense that it can result in miscarriages, joint pain and muscle pain. Hives are unlikely to be associated with any of these unless they occur simultaneously with other medical conditions or complications.

Parallels between Lyme Disease and Hives

There are some notable parallels between hives and Lyme disease: hives are often idiopathic, while Lyme disease can be difficult to diagnose. In both scenarios, patients have to deal with the frustration of having symptoms whose triggers or causes they cannot identify.

Lyme disease and hives are also similar in the sense that their respective progressions vary from individual to individual. Hives can be chronic or acute, and they can manifest on different body parts. Lyme disease can manifest as any of a wide range of symptoms, and there is nothing predictable about the combination in which they appear.

Lyme disease and hives have another important thing in common: many people recognize them by a characteristic skin condition. Hives tend to be characterized by wheals, reddish bumps that disappear after a while, only to reappear elsewhere. Lyme disease is often characterized by a bull’s-eye-like rash called erythema migrans, which typically appears several days after the tick bite. Interestingly enough, sometimes the erythema migrans rash takes on the appearance of other skin conditions like eczema, hives, poison ivy or sunburn. Thus, some people may be under the impression that they have hives when, in reality, they do not. If they are lucky, they may ultimately figure out that they have been infected with Lyme disease.

Hives are a common skin condition. Hence, it is easy to find information about them online. When this information is credible, it is a valuable source of hives facts for those who are suffering from the condition.

Much of the time, the available information about a given health condition is not completely based on the truth. This is cause for worry as some people might believe that information and choose to act on it. In doing so, they might endanger their health. Thus, it is important to assess the credibility of a source which claims to present hives facts.

Hives, also known as urticaria, are characterized by the appearance of welts or wheals: smooth, flat-topped itchy swellings on the skin.  They are typically pale red and may be accompanied by a burning sensation. When hives appear on the skin, they are present for a short while before disappearing and then reappearing somewhere else. Fortunately, it is only in rare cases that they are so severe as to become life-threatening. These cases tend to occur when hives is complicated by angioedema.

When Hives Facts Are Not Based On Hard and Fast Rules

Classifying hives and identifying their triggers can be complicated. This is partly due to the fact that they manifest in different ways. In some cases, they are generalized, appearing on different parts of the body. In other cases, they are localized, appearing only at the site of contact between the skin and the factor that triggered them.

Hives can be triggered by a number of factors: In some people, they are triggered by seasonal allergies. Others develop them upon exposure to foods, medications and other household items to which they are allergic. Yet other people develop hives in response to physical stimuli like heat, sweat, cold and pressure.

The above are just a few of the possible triggers of hives. There are likely many more, some of which have not yet been identified by medical science. Given these complexities, many sources avoid being definitive about the possible causes of hives. Among their more prominent hives facts, they promote the idea that hives is often an idiopathic condition- one whose trigger is indeterminable.

Given the speed with which medical knowledge evolves, it is possible that science has many surprises in store for those who make it their business to understand hives. Perhaps the hard and fast hives facts of the present moment will turn out to be the medical myths of tomorrow.

As hives is a condition that affects many people, the ready availability of hives info on various internet sites is a boon. It should, however, be emphasized that the presentation of hives can vary greatly from one individual to another. Credible online sources of information on hives recognize this.

One person might experience an episode of hives that lasts a few hours then completely recover. Another person might experience a bout of hives that extends into years of discomfort. Despite these differences, there would be no difficulty characterizing them both as suffering from hives.

Another variation might involve two people whose hives have been triggered by completely different factors: one of them might develop hives as an allergic response to eating shellfish. The other might develop hives as a result of succumbing to a viral infection. Having access to hives info on the internet would make it immediately apparent to both people that their personal experiences of hives fell within the rubric of what was normal.

The treatment for the wheals would likely be the same in both cases, but the factors that triggered the hives would have to be addressed in different ways. In the former case, the patient would have to avoid eating dishes that included shellfish. In the latter case, the patient would have to get treatment for the viral infection.

Seeking Hives Info from Experienced Medical Professionals

In the above cases, the internet would be most helpful in providing the patients with general hives info. If they wanted information more specific to their individual circumstances, they would be better off consulting a medical professional who had considerable experience treating patients with hives. That medical professional might be a general practitioner, a dermatologist, an allergist or an immunologist.

Experienced medical professionals are the best sources of hives info because they are accustomed to applying their medical knowledge to a variety of situations. They can readily recognize when one’s hives have been complicated by another medical condition. They are also trained to differentiate between hives and those skin conditions that resemble it. These skills are crucial as they help ensure that patients get the right form of treatment for their hives.

Hives is not the most straightforward of conditions. Thus, it is sometimes necessary for a patient to go through extensive testing in order to identify the triggering factors. Immunologists and allergists are the medical professionals best qualified to walk the patients through these tests. However, even under their professional oversight, it often happens that the hives’ triggers cannot be determined.