URTICARIA & HOMOEOPATHIC TREATMENT

URTICARIA (HIVES)

Hives ( urticaria) appear on the skin as wheals that are red, very itchy, smoothly elevated areas of skin often with a blanched center.

·       They appear in varying shapes and sizes, from a few millimeters to several inches in diameter anywhere on the body

·       Hives are more common in women than in men.

·       One hallmark of hives is their tendency to change size rapidly and to move around, disappearing in one place and reappearing in other places, often in a matter of hours. Individual hives usually last no longer than 24 hours

·       Swelling deeper in the skin that may accompany hives is called angioedema. This swelling of the hands and feet, as well as the lips or eyelids, can be as dramatic as it is brief.

CAUSES

Hives are produced when histamine and other compounds are released from cells called mast cells, which are normally found in the skin. Histamine causes fluid to leak from the local blood vessels, leading to swelling in the skin.

 Hives are very common 

·       Some hives are caused by allergies to such things as foods, medications, and insect stings, but in the majority of cases, no specific cause for them is ever found.

·       maneuvers like changing diet, soap, detergent, and makeup are rarely helpful in preventing hives unless there is an excellent temporal relationship.

·       Having hives may cause stress, but stress by itself does not cause hives.

·       Rarely, common environmental provocations such as sunlight, water, cold, heat, exercise, and pressure seem to induce hives

·       Some medications, like morphine, codeine, aspirin, and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs, such as ibuprofen [Advil]), cause the body to release histamine and produce urticaria through nonallergic mechanisms

TYPE OF URTICARIA

 Hives fall into two chronological categories:

ACUTE URTICARIA  -ordinary hives which resolve after six to eight weeks

CHRONIC URTICARIA - which continue longer than six to eight weeks

. Since hives is so common and acute urticaria by definition resolves spontaneously,.

PHYSICAL URTICARIA is a type of chronic urticaria produced by physical stimuli. By far the most common form is dermographism, which literally means "skin writing." This is an exaggerated form of what happens to anyone when their skin is scratched or rubbed: a red welt appears at the line of the scratch. In dermographism, raised, itchy red welts with adjacent flares appear wherever the skin is scratched or where belts and other articles of clothing rub against the skin, causing mast cells to leak histamine.

CHOLINERGIC URTICARIA Another common form of physically induced hives .  This produces hundreds of small, itchy bumps. These occur within 15 minutes of exercise or physical exertion and are usually gone before a doctor can examine them. This form of hives happens more often in young people.

OTHER TYPES OF URTICARIA

·         Autoimmune Urticaria

·         Cold urticaria - caused by cold exposure to skin.

·         Heat urticaria - caused by heat exposure to skin.

·         Light urticaria - caused by sunlight exposure; also called "solar urticaria".

·         Urticaria pigmentosa

·         Papular urticaria

·         Pressure urticaria - caused by skin pressure, such as standing or sitting.

SYMPTOMS & SIGN

·       Ordinary hives flare up suddenly and usually for no specific reason.

·       Welts appear, often in several places.

·       They flare,

·        itch,

·       swell,

·        Go away in a matter of minutes to hours, only to appear elsewhere. This sequence may go on from days to weeks.

·       Most episodes of hives last less than six weeks.

URTICARIA FACTS

·         Hives (urticaria) are red, itchy, raised areas of skin that appear in varying shapes and sizes, each one characteristically lasts no longer than six to 12 hours.

·         Hives are very common, and most often their cause is elusive.

·         Hives can change size rapidly and to move around, disappearing in one place and reappearing in other places, often in a matter of hours.

·         Ordinary hives flare up suddenly.

·         Physical hives are hives produced by direct physical stimulation by environmental forces.

·         Treatment of hives is directed at symptom relief while the condition goes away on its own.

·         Hives typically are not associated with long-term or serious complications.

HOMOEOPATHIC TREATMENT FOR URTICARIA

The selection of remedy is based upon the theory of individualization and symptoms similarity by using holistic approach.

several remedies are available to treat urticaria that can be selected on the basis of cause, sensations and modalities of the complaints.

There are following remedies which are helpful in the treatment of Urticaria:

MORNING- Bell

AFTERNOON-Chol

EVENING- NUX vom, Kres

AFTER BATHIG- PHOUS, URTI- URENS

CHANGING OF WEATHER –APIS

IN COLD AIR- RHUS TOX, NITRIC ACID, SEPIA

COLD BATH- CAL. PHOUS

DRINKING COLD WATER- BELL

AFTER EXERCISE- NAT MUR, URTICA- UREN,CON, PSOR

AFTER MEAT- ANT. CRUD

DURING PERSPIRATION –APIS, RHUS TOX

EVERY SPRING- RHUS TOX

AFTER WINE- CHLOL

BEFORE MENSES- DULCAMARA, LACH, MEZERIUM, RHUS . TOX

DURING MENSES- KALI CARB, BELL, PULS

WALKING IN COLD AIR- SEPIA

COMMAN MEDICINE FOR URTICARIA

·       URTICA URENS

·       APIS  MEL.

·       ARS. ALB

·       ACONITE

·       BELL.

·       BRY.

·       NAT. MUR

·       RHUS TOX

·       NUX VOM

·       DULCA.

·       SEPIA