Hives wheels are reddish, whitish, or skin colored raised welts that appear on the surface of the skin. Hives wheels develop on the skin when histamine and other chemicals are released into the blood stream causing the leakage of fluid under the skin leading to swelling and the characteristic raised welts of hives. Hives wheels can pop up for no apparent reason and disappear without any form of treatment. Factors such as stress level, emotional wellbeing, heat, cold, sweat, and sun can all cause a case of hive wheels. Because these factors are somewhat immeasurable it is likely that most people who suffer from acute attacks of hives will never know what caused them.
Urticaria Welts and Food
Hives can also be directly linked to allergies. For example, people who suffer from hay fever are also more susceptible to urticaria welts. If you suspect that your hives are being caused by a food allergy or reaction you can try a low histamine diet. Histamines occur in food naturally, and particularly in fermented foods when, during fermentation, the amino acid histidine is converted to histamine. Examples of foods that are high in histamines due to fermentation are cheeses, sausage, fermented soy products, fermented alcoholic beverages such as wine and beer, and vinegar. According to Jeffrey Tulin-Silver, M.D. and Suchetha Kinhal, M.D., high amounts of histamines occur naturally in eggplant, spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes, and finfish. Additionally, eggs, strawberries, tomatoes, fish, shellfish, chocolate, bananas, pineapple, papaya, chocolate, strawberries, milk, and fermented alcoholic drinks release histamine directly from mast cells. In addition to avoiding foods that may contain histamines it is likely your allergist will put you on a restricted diet if an allergy test has been administered and certain foods are suspected to cause allergies or intolerance.
Hives Wheels – What You Can Do About Them
Acute cases of hives wheels can be treated with over the counter remedies with the goal of reducing the release of histamines (antihistamines such as Benadryl and Claritin), alleviating itchiness, and reducing swelling. For mild cases of hives cool baths/showers and compresses can help as can keeping the skin moisturized with a lotion formulated for sensitive skin. For individuals who suffer from chronic hives (those that last longer than six weeks sometimes up to several years) researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center have found that vitamin D supplements can significantly reduce chronic hives and alleviate the symptoms. Researchers found that nearly half of the patients observed who suffered from chronic hives also had low vitamin D levels. The recommended dose is a supplement of 1,000 to 2,000 international units (IU) per day.
