Cholinergic Urticaria Chronic Heat Hives | Cholinergic Urticaria.net

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Welcome to CholinergicUrticaria.net

Welcome to the official site about Cholinergic Urticaria.  On this site, you can find a treasure of useful information regarding a physical type of hives, known as Cholinergic Urticaria. You can find out exactly what cholinergic urticaria is, common medical treatment options, symptoms, view pictures, talk to others with this condition on a live forum, and much more.

Cholinergic Urticaria- A Brief Overview

Cholinergic Urticaria is a medical term used to describe a subcategory of physical urticaria (hives). It is characterized by a hypersensitive response in the skin as a result of the body increasing in temperature, or the precipitating release of sweat. Individuals with this physical heat hives condition often ask, “Why do I itch when I get hot or excercise?” –as this is one of the most common symptoms when a patient presents.

Individuals may experience a cholinergic urticaria reaction in response to any activity that increases overall body temperature (or causes a sweat release).  Some examples include:

  • Taking a hot shower or bath
  • Eating spicy foods
  • Exercising or doing physical activities that increase body temperature
  • Stress
  • Emotional response (sadness, anxiety, anger)
  • Changing from a cool environment to a hotter environment without allowing the body time to slowly acclimate to the temperature difference (such as walking from a cold room to a hot room)
Cholinergic urticaria (back), heat hives, cholinergic urticaria reaction

Cholinergic Urticaria (back)

Individuals experiencing cholinergic urticaria are otherwise  healthy and exhibit no symptoms unless they are forced to experience a heat stimulus (as mentioned above). At that point, they may have a hives response to the increase in temperature.

This condition gets its name from 2 sources:

  • “Cholinergic” which  means “related to acetylcholine.” Acetylcholine is a chemical used in the parasympathic nervous system. It acts as a neurotransmitter. Acetylecholine seems to be involved in cholinergic urticaria reactions. It appears that when acetylcholine is released at the nerve endings in the skin, this can initiate a hives response.
  • “Urticaria” originates from the Latin word urtica, which means stinging nettle. A stinging nettle is the name of a plant that has small hair-like needles that sting if touched by humans. In urticaria, histamine is released which produces a very prickly and  itchy feeling in the skin.

Cholinergic Urticaria is often referred to as “heat hives” or “heat urticaria.”   Individuals often feel a burning,  itchy and prickly feeling during an attack, which subsides once the individual is able to cool down or reduce body temperature.

—–>Continue reading more on the Cholinergic Urticaria Definition.

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This post was written by Ben on February 22, 2010

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