How to treat Hives (Urticaria)? - Doctor Explains

In this video we will cover how to treat hives, but before we do so I thought it would be important to explain exactly what hives are.

Hives or urticaria is a kind of skin rash of red, raised, itchy bumps. Which may burn and sting.
Hives can appear anywhere on your skin, affecting a small, pin-point area upwards to an area of several centimeters.

Hives are caused by an autoimmune reaction, meaning it is caused by a complex cascade of your own immune system, releasing inflammatory mediators and histamine. This results in leakages of fluid from the tiny blood-vessels in your skin causing edema and thereby these hives.

Therefore hives persist up until this fluid is absorbed into the surrounding cells. In 95% of all cases this takes less than 6 weeks, usually lasting just a few days, leaving no lasting skin-changes.

In half of the cases the cause is unknown, but many substances in your direct environment might cause hives: an allergic reaction on medication or food, an infection, prolonged pressure on your skin, stress, cold temperatures, contact with water and exercising more than 30 minutes.

How to treat hives:
- First, you could apply a cool washcloth on your hives to reduce the itching.
- Next take a lukewarm bath or shower. Do not use hot water, don’t soak for more than 10 minutes and don’t use scented lotions, as this can worsens your symptoms.
- After the shower or bath, pad yourself dry. Don’t scrub or rub your skin. And apply a moisturizer on your damp skin to nourish and calm it .
- Put on 100% cotton clothing and don’t wear wool.
- Also prevent scratching, as this will worsen the rash. Trim your nails and instead of scratching you could relieve the itching by pressing your skin firmly.
- Lastly if these tips where insufficient your doctor might prescribe you oral antihistamines or oral glucocorticoids. These can help to resolve the hives and reduce the itching.

If you are looking for more information on these drugs than check out this playlist:
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaG3Bo3L0gX75jvmQBX6…

- Disclaimer: this video and the comments are meant purely informational! This is not medical advice! If you are looking for medical advice always contact your own doctor. -

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Literature:
1: NHS. (2018). Hives.
2: James C. (2015). Urticaria and Allergy-Mediated Conditions. Primary Care. 42 (4): 473–83.
3: C. Griffiths. J. Barker. T. Bleiker. R. Chalmers. D. Creamer. (2016). Rook's Textbook of Dermatology Volume Set 4 (9 ed.). John Wiley & Sons. Chapter 42.3.
4: Farmacotherapeutisch Kompas. (2020). Desloratadine.

* The images in this video are used for educational purposes only. Most of the images and video material in this video come from canva.com/.

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2. Patrick Patrikos, Good Times
3. Patrick Patrikos, Rockville

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Atlas of Human Anatomy (Netter Basic Science), amzn.to/3afFe9c
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