Viral hives are a kind of hives brought on by a viral infection. Commonly, along with the hives, headaches, fever, and nausea will be the main symptoms. There is usually not a lot of swelling around viral hives, which often causes them to be misdiagnosed as angioedema. The swelling in angioedema is primarily under the skin.
Viral hives affect children more than adults but with this type of hives, headaches are common. The hives will generally be gone within about four weeks or less. Usually only a small portion of the body is covered by hives, headaches can be treated with over the counter medications like acetaminophen or aspirin.
What Else Could Cause Hives, Headaches To Appear At The Same Time?
In adults, the list of possible causes for hives is almost endless. In fact most cases go undiagnosed. This is referred to as idiopathic hives. Sudden, one-time attacks of hives are usually a little easier to diagnose. Medications can often be the cause of hives. Headaches treated with codeine are an example of when the cause and symptom can get confused. Codeine is a prescription medication notorious for causing hives. Headaches treated with codeine often result in an outbreak of hives. The patient thinks the hives are causing the headache or even that the headache is causing the hives. Headaches seldom cause hives by themselves, although occasionally the stress of a migraine headache will bring on an outbreak of hives. Headaches should be treated with another medication that doesn’t contain codeine if the allergic reaction to codeine is a problem. Your doctor will be able to recommend an alternative treatment.
Food additives can be another cause of hives, headaches, and other allergic reactions. In particular, some people have an allergic reaction to certain food colorings. With a sudden outbreak of hives, headaches can be a tell-tale sign that food additives are a problem. If it happens again, you should consider starting a food journal to see what common food or foods are triggering the hives. If the trigger food id found and it is a prepared food, read the ingredient label and pay particular attention to any food colorings used. Write it down. Do the same for any other foods that cause similar reactions and you might be able to narrow down the additive causing the problem. Good and persistent detective work will pay off!
