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.