There are several different types of “Hives” conditions. This website focuses mainly on a type of hives called Cholinergic Urticaria. This types of hives happens when one becomes heated, excited, nervous, or anything that can temporarily cause the body to become hot. Instead of sweating, most of us break out in an itchy/stinging sensation, which usually goes away within a few minutes. Otherwise, we are healthy and you wouldn’t know we have any type of “hives” at all.
But there are several other types of hives that are classified as “Physical type” hives. For example, one condition is called dermatographism. People with this condition can literally run their finger or sharp object along their skin, and within a few minutes a large wheal will pop up. This is often called the “writing” hives because people can write things on their skin & it will pop up really red within a few minutes. In fact, I even saw a television program a while back, and a girl actually would draw designs on her skin, then take a picture of it & sell the pictures as artwork. Pretty cool huh!
Another type of hives is Cold Urticaria, in which case, a person can literally stick an ice cube on their skin, and within a few minutes they will get a big red raised wheal. They can also tend to break out in hives when exposed to cold weather.
Solar Urticaria is another type of hives, which seems to appear only after solar exposure (the sun). Most people with this condition only break out in hives after being exposed to the sun.
Aquagenic Urticaria is a type of hives which appear after water contacts the skin. Usually, it takes up to 15 minutes for the hives to appear, and they can last up to 2 hours. I remember reading an article on some poor girl that had a very severe case of this. She took one of the fastest showers in the world. She also said that if her boyfriend was sweaty, should couldn’t even hug him until he was dry, or else she would have a hives outbreak. Poor girl! Sounds bad!
Exercised Induced Hives- This condition is similar to cholinergic urticaria. The main difference is that when the person exercises or become hot, they typically go into anaphylactic shock which means their throat starts to swell shut, and their lips can swell, etc. This is much more dangerous than cholinergic urticaria since this can actually cause death (suffocation).
Contact or Pressure urticaria is a condition where people can simply touch you, and you can develop a hive or wheal reaction. This is somewhat similar to dermagraphism, only it is a little bit different. In this situation, if a person has on tight clothes, or something is laid on their arm, they break out in a big rash/hives/wheal.
There are lots of crazy & bizarre hives conditions in the world. Cholinergic urticaria is just one of many. But it sometimes makes you wonder: Is there any type of common link among these hives people? There are some striking similarities. For example, almost any of the above hives conditions can come & go. Some people may have them for years, and then suddenly stop having them.
Another thing is that most of the hives seem to be skin related. Either the skin becomes hot, or it becomes cold, or it becomes wet, or it becomes touched, or gets hit by the sun. In every hives case above, the skin is having the reaction to something.
It makes you wonder, why are these people having these strange hives conditions? For many of these people, the treatment seems to be the exact same. According to most forums I visit, it doesn’t matter what type of hives they have. They are usually given antihistamines, in some cases antibiotics, lotions, creams, steroids, and you name it.
So could there be a common link? Could the same thing be causing hives in these people, but each person has the hives in a different way (for example, some people get Cholinergic Urticaria, while others may get dermatoographism).
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Posted under cold urticaria, dermographism
This post was written by Ben on July 24, 2008
