what is HIVES & URTICARIA? In this video, i will discuss the causes and treatment of this itchy skin rash.
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Hi guys, welcome back to Sg Dr wellness. I am Dr Chen Yiming,
Today I will be sharing about a very very itchy and irritating condition called urticaria or hives.
Most of you must have had this before.
Very itchy bumps on the skin that comes and go and looks like mosquito bites.
What are these caused by?
What is the treatment ?
What are the red flags to look out for?
Watch till the end.
And if you are new to my channel, click on the subscribe button now.
What is urticaria or hives.
These are itchy raised bumps that can occur on the skin.
They can look like individual small bumps like these or may involve large patches of our skin.
They are warm and hot and extremely itchy.
It may be associated sometimes with swelling of the eye and lips in what is known as angio-oedema.
On a microscopic level, what happened is that
- there is a sudden release of large amounts of histamine from our immune cells
- and that results in a sudden enlargement of small blood vessels within our skin
- followed by a rush of fluid out of our vessels into our skin causing an itchy swelling.
Urticaria is very common.
About 20% of us would have experienced at least 1 episode of this at any time of our lives.
If these hives are short-lived, they are termed acute urticaria
If they last for more than 6 weeks, then they are called chronic urticaria.
Today I will focus more on acute urticarias, which are hives that generally last for days to weeks.
In my practice, this is commonly seen in children.
Some of the common causes of acute hives are
1) fever and viral illnesses
2) reaction to allergens like dust or latex
3) parasitic infections like mites or scabies or insect bites
4) physical stimulations like sun exposure, or change in temperature from hot to cold or vice versa
5) less commonly drug or food allergy
In 50% of the time, we may not be able to identify any cause and that can be very frustrating for the child and parents
The hives come and generally disappears within 24 hours but another batch of hives may appear in the same area or a different area.
This process may repeat itself for many days or weeks.
It is so itchy that it may affect sleep and lessons or work.
Are treatments available for hives?
Yes of course.
Antihistamines are the main treatment of choice
Some of the drowsy ones are piriton, diphenhydramine, hydroxyzine or promethazine
The non drowsy ones includes Zyrtec, loratadine, telfast, aerius
In some instances, we may even add in a different class of antihistamines like ranitidine or cimetidine.
Now if we are able to identify any triggers, the next course of action would be to treat the triggers or to avoid the triggers.
Treat the viral infections, or avoid that particular drug that may trigger the hives.
This will possibly prevent the same thing from happening again.
If you have had hives before, keep this medications in your medicine cabinet because hives tend to recur.
Now, are there any signs which indicate that these hives are due to the more sinister causes?
If you notice that each individual spot lasts more than 24 hours OR
They cause bleeding under the skin OR
After the hives disappear you notice a brownish pigmentation that is left behind?
Then you may need to see a dermatologist for a skin biopsy to exclude the possibility of a vasculitis.
Otherwise in the large majority of cases, they are harmless.
Thank you for watching till the end.
Subscribe and like my channel.
Hope this video helps in the treatment of your urticaria.
Treatment is straightforward and some of the medications are available over the counter.
Till the next time, stay safe and stay healthy.
00:00 intro
00:33 What is urticaria or hives
01:27 Acute urticaria
01:36 Causes of acute urticaria
02:19 Treatment of urticaria
03:06 Signs of possible vasculitis
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