It is easy to define what urticaria is and what prompts those raised and itchy splotches on the skin. But urticaria causes and treatment is not the same matter. Urticaria, or hives is, in short words, a hypersensitive reaction in the skin to a release of histamine. But what exactly are the urticaria causes and treatment.

Acute urticaria causes

Acute urticaria is simply an outbreak of hives that happens only once or twice, and in no case reoccurs over a period exceeding six weeks. Acute urticaria causes and treatment are the hardest to pin down. The outbreak often comes and goes before the patient ever gets to the doctor to look at it, therefore a cause cannot be anything other than a guess. And honestly, if you only have a short outbreak, the acute urticaria causes and treatment don’t even really matter, because treatment isn’t really needed for a condition that no longer exists and doesn’t come back.

Causes of chronic urticaria

What causes urticaria in chronic cases is much more difficult to answer than the chemical action that make the symptoms appear. There are both allergic and non-allergic causes. Some of the non-allergic chronic urticaria causes include:

• Autoimmune related
• Hormone triggers
• Anxiety triggers
• Exercise-related triggers
• Temperature extremes
• Solar exposure

Some urticaria is allergy related. Some of these may be:

• Alcohol, codeine, cocaine, and other illicit drugs
• Prescription and OTC drugs like NSAIDS, antihistamines, antibiotics, and vaccinations
• Food allergies like dairy, wheat, shellfish, food additives, and proteins
• Insect bites and/or infections
• Certain perfumes and deodorants, and body powders

Urticaria causes and treatments are easy in the above examples. The causes are usually something the patient has just used or come in contact with and the treatment is to avoid those agents.

Urticaria causes and treatment in the homeopathy field

It is best to not start using antihistamines or cortisones if you can avoid it. They become almost habit forming in the sense that once started, if you stop using them the hives come back almost inevitably.

The alternative treatments attempt to treat urticaria at the immunological level. The idea is that treating the hives at the immunological level will take care of the underlying causes of urticaria instead of just treating the symptoms. When you do this, the symptoms never appear and in effect you are dealing with the urticaria causes and treatment at the same time without becoming the slave to a prescription or OTC medicine. The problem, whatever the cause, is an immunological problem and that is the way you should try to treat it.

What is chronic urticaria? Urticaria is the medical term used for hives.  Chronic urticaria is any case of hives that lasts more that six weeks, or reoccurs frequently. Chronic hives (urticaria) are uncommon, only about 1 in 1,000 people develop this condition, and it is twice as common in women as it is men (patient.co.uk).

Most conventional chronic urticaria treatment treats the symptoms of the disease with antihistamines, and in more severe cases corticosteroids. These of course are very helpful for treatment of chronic urticaria, but sometimes they do not take away all of the burning, itching, and other symptoms. It is wise to find home remedies and natural treatments to use at home as well; just make sure and tell your doctor about any extra treatment for urticaria that you take on.

Chronic Idiopathic Urticaria

What is chronic idiopathic urticaria? Chronic urticaria, or hives in general rather, are idiopathic in most cases. This means that in many cases the overall cause is unknown. Idiopathic chronic urtircaria is harder to treat because they cannot be prevented if you don’t know what could trigger another outbreak. In addition, many times it ends up being an underlying condition, such as lupus or hepatitis, which just hasn’t been recognized yet.

One thing that people do to narrow down their chronic urticaria causes is to keep a daily journal of potential things that could be triggering their chronic urticaria. Some of the common causes of chronic urticaria outbreaks are food, extreme temperatures, over-exercising, medications, and exposure to soaps and other such items.

Chronic Autoimmune Urticaria

Chronic urticaria is not due to allergy, though sometimes it may be triggered by allergins. It has been connected to several different underlying causes. It is widely believed that chronic hives are really a type of autoimmune disorder or caused by an overactive immune system. Chronic hives have been linked to autoimmune diseases such as lupus. These are some times referred to as autoimmune chronic urticaria. You can read more about chronic urticaria autoimmune disorders within the studies found on Medscape.com.

In chronic urticaria, thyroid conditions have also been linked as an underlying cause and so have diseases like hepatitis. In addition, chronic urticaria and angioedema are very closely connected, though one is not the cause of the other. Chronic urticaria angioedema is a very serious condition, in which the swelling occurs underneath the skin. This is an emergency condition because swelling can occur in the throat and block the airways.