Urticaria, or urticaria, is an independent allergic disease or a symptom of any disease. The main symptom of urticaria is a bright red rash accompanied by itching. The acute form of the disease is more severe and may be complicated by laryngeal edema. A person may experience weakness, chills, nausea, and headache. There are official and folk methods on how to treat urticaria in an adult at home. Antihistamines quickly relieve itching and rashes. Home remedies are used in treatment, for example, herbal decoctions, alcohol tinctures and a soda “mask”. Before starting self-treatment with home methods, you should consult a doctor.
Features of treatment of different types of urticaria
Urticaria in adults begins with redness of the affected areas of the skin. This is followed by itchy swelling and blisters. The disease is diagnosed and treated by a dermatologist or allergist.
An attack can be triggered by poor nutrition, stressful situations, colds, and other factors. Urticaria can manifest itself as:
- a separate, “independent” disease;
- syndrome;
- a symptom of other pathologies, for example, various types of allergies.
The disease is easy to divide. Doctors distinguish two types of urticaria:
- allergic, or typical, atopic;
- non-allergic, which is not associated with a skin reaction to antibodies.
Urticaria can be of the following types:
- Spicy. This form of the disease is very dangerous because it can affect the larynx. Swelling will lead to asphyxia, so acute urticaria is treated in the hospital.
- Chronic. It disrupts the functioning of the digestive tract and can occur as a result of toxicosis in pregnant women.
- Warm or cold. It occurs as a reaction of the body to high or low temperatures. Requires symptomatic treatment.
- Pigmented. In difficult cases, surgical intervention is necessary, since the plaques that form on the surface of the skin look unaesthetic.
- Cholinergic. Appears against the background of diseases of the thyroid gland and digestive tract.
- Recurrent. Causes nausea, dizziness, headache, insomnia and neurotic disorders.
Before starting treatment, it is important to understand what factors provoke the development of an attack. The most common:
- medications;
- food;
- ultraviolet;
- exposure to cold, such as frosty air;
- insect bites;
- pet hair, bird feathers.
Different means are used in different cases. For example, if the skin is overly sensitive to sunlight, sunscreen and sunglasses will help.
Most often, treatment for urticaria is complex, including medication, physiotherapy, and preventive measures. Official treatment methods can be combined with home remedies and remedies that relieve attacks, relieve swelling, and reduce itching.
Causes and symptoms
Urticaria gets its name from the similarity of the rashes to blisters that occur after contact with nettles.
Typically, this disease manifests itself as follows. Dense, edematous blisters of a bright pink color appear on the skin (sometimes on the mucous membranes). They can have different sizes and shapes.
Usually, after some time, these bubbles disappear without a trace. But if the form of urticaria is more severe, the patient may experience severe itching in the areas where the rash appears, burning, tightness and dry skin.
In particularly severe cases, fever is likely to occur . Therefore, it is worth knowing how to treat urticaria in adults at home, and if the condition worsens, it is important to immediately consult a doctor.
At its core, urticaria is an allergic reaction of the human body . There can be many reasons for this disease. Here are some of them:
- Including allergenic foods in the diet (oranges, lemons, strawberries, cheese, etc.).
- Use of a number of medications (aspirin, ibuprofen, etc.).
- Eating foods that contain harmful food additives.
- Contact with certain plants that cause allergic reactions.
- A large amount of physical activity.
- Frequent use of hot water procedures.
- Great stress or emotional distress.
- Wearing clothes or tight shoes that irritate the skin.
- Insect bites.
- Urticaria can also occur against the background of other diseases (viral and parasitic).
- Autoimmune diseases.
- Epidermal allergens (pet hair, dust, feathers).
You can find out more about what causes urticaria here.
What you need to know before starting home treatment
Treatment of urticaria with folk remedies is permissible only after consultation with your doctor. Since in most cases a person with urticaria is prescribed antihistamines, the use of tablets and folk remedies requires caution. The composition of home remedies should not “contradict” medications.
People who think that at home they can get rid of urticaria forever should take into account that urticaria can only be treated symptomatically. Sometimes the disease goes away with age, as happens in children.
If a person visits a doctor, leads a healthy lifestyle, eats right and takes care of his health, he can achieve long-term remission.
Any home remedies are prohibited until it is clear what factors provoke the disease.
General recommendations
Before starting treatment for urticaria, it is necessary to adjust the patient’s lifestyle.
Temporarily give up sports activities. During exercise, the skin sweats and heats up, which provokes even more irritation and pain symptoms. If this is not possible, then immediately after training take a bath with oatmeal.
By rubbing painful areas with ice cubes, you can narrow blood vessels and get rid of swelling and itching. Lotions with camphor oil and menthol eliminate unpleasant burning and itching.
First aid for rashes
A person who is prone to attacks should know what to do with hives if the disease worsens. It is important to learn to recognize the symptoms of anaphylaxis and angioedema, which often accompany urticaria.
A sudden drop in blood pressure, difficulty breathing, hoarseness and pain in the lower abdomen indicate the onset of anaphylactic shock, which requires immediate hospitalization. At the first signs of shock, a person should call an ambulance and take antihistamines, epinephrine (adrenaline), and hormones. These products are prescribed by a doctor and should always be kept in your home medicine cabinet.
- If there are no symptoms of anaphylactic shock, an attack of urticaria is accompanied by rashes and itching, you can limit yourself to an antihistamine, for example, Suprastin or Tavegil.
- It is necessary to immediately remove the allergen that triggered the attack, be it medications or any food, for example, chocolate, wine, citrus fruits.
- If urticaria is a reaction to food, you can take absorbent drugs, activated, white carbon, Enterosgel.
- In case of an insect bite, carefully remove the sting from the skin.
- If the rash is caused by a contact allergen, for example, a cosmetic or detergent, it should be washed off the skin with plenty of warm water.
How to treat urticaria in adults at home
People who are interested in how to cure hives at home need to know an important thing. Hives are a symptom that occurs if an adult or child has an allergy or hypersensitivity to various substances. With the help of antihistamines, ointments, herbal medicines, and home remedies, you can stop an attack, relieve itching and reduce rashes. But urticaria needs constant monitoring and prevention.
Before using any remedy, even a safe one, you must notify your doctor.
In addition to medications prescribed by a doctor, homemade medications can be used to treat urticaria:
- herbal infusions, decoctions, teas;
- tinctures with alcohol or vodka;
- natural ointments and creams of our own making;
- various compresses, baths with extracts, decoctions of medicinal herbs.
Herbal infusions and decoctions
Treatment of urticaria at home in adults is carried out using medicinal infusions and decoctions from plant materials.
Folk remedies for the treatment of urticaria should be prepared and taken according to the recipe, which includes information on how to brew the herbs, how long to infuse and how to take the decoction.
- Nettle infusion is prepared from a teaspoon of dry leaves and 0.5 liters of clean water. Mix the ingredients, bring to a boil over low heat, leave for up to 3 minutes and remove from heat. The decoction is infused for 40 minutes. This remedy can be taken orally, or you can wipe the affected skin with the cooled infusion. Nettle decoction is taken orally 100 ml 5 times a day.
- To prepare the daily dose of yarrow herb infusion, you need to take 1 tbsp. l. raw materials and brew a glass of boiling water. Leave the decoction for ¾ hours. Take 1/3 cup 3 times a day before meals.
- To prepare a decoction of the string, pour 20 g (2 tbsp) of the raw material into a glass of warm water and cook in a water bath for a quarter of an hour. Strain the infusion, cool and dilute with water to the original volume. Take the decoction one tablespoon after meals.
- A medicinal mixture made from a pinch of walnut leaves, a tablespoon of linden blossom and woodruff grass helps with urticaria. Pour 10 g of the mixture with a glass of boiling water and leave for 15 minutes. Strain and take 1 glass of decoction before meals.
Alcohol tinctures
Treatment of urticaria with traditional means includes tinctures of medicinal herbs in alcohol or vodka.
- Yarrow herb needs to be filled with 70% alcohol. For 1 part of medicinal raw material, take 10 parts of alcohol. Infuse the product for at least a week. You can take home medicine 40 drops 3 times a day.
- An effective home remedy is a mixture of alcoholic tinctures of hawthorn and valerian. They must be mixed in equal quantities. Take 30 drops of the mixture before bed.
Treatment of urticaria with traditional methods involves a complex effect on the condition of the body. A person with urticaria can combine medicinal decoctions and tinctures with products for external use, for example, homemade ointments based on natural ingredients, medicinal baths, and compresses.
Ointments made from natural ingredients
There are many pharmacy creams that help cope with rashes. Hormonal and non-hormonal drugs are one of the traditional methods of treating urticaria in adults. At home, pharmaceutical creams can be combined with folk remedies for external use.
Making a homemade ointment for hives is easy. Typically, the extract, infusion or parts of the medicinal plant are mixed with petroleum jelly, refined vegetable oil, and lard, which are the basis of the home remedy.
You can prepare an ointment from the flowers of calendula, string, yarrow or celandine:
- Take 2 tsp. plant materials, inflorescences, leaves, grass.
- Grind thoroughly, crush in a mortar or grind in a coffee grinder into powder.
- Mix with 100 g fat. You can take Vaseline and even butter.
- Rub the product into the affected skin.
St. John's wort oil is good for rashes. It can be purchased at a pharmacy, or you can prepare it yourself. To do this you need:
- 2 tsp Crush dried inflorescences and St. John's wort into powder.
- Mix with 100 g of vegetable oil.
- Infuse the mixture in a dark place for 3-5 days.
Rub into affected skin with clean fingers.
Therapeutic baths
To get rid of rashes on the body at home, you can take medicinal baths.
One of the most effective home remedies that help cope with rashes is nettle infusion. It is better to use fresh plants along with the roots.
Before preparing the decoction, the nettles must be thoroughly washed. Place the stems in a large saucepan with a thick bottom, cover with cold water and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes. Leave for 45-60 minutes, cool to room temperature, strain and pour into a bath of warm water. The duration of the procedure is 15 minutes.
You can use a decoction of wheat bran. To do this, a kilogram of raw material is boiled in 5 liters of water for half an hour. The product is filtered and added to the bath. The water temperature should be 37 degrees. You can stay in the water for 25 minutes.
Compresses from vegetables and other products
If you do not have an allergic reaction to vegetables, you can try making compresses from raw potatoes. To prepare this homemade medicine, you need to grate a fresh peeled tuber on a fine grater. Squeeze the resulting mass lightly and apply to the affected area of the skin. Leave for half an hour and rinse with warm water.
A folk remedy for urticaria in adults is sodium bicarbonate, or baking soda. It helps relieve itching and soothes irritated skin. To prepare the paste, you need to take a tablespoon of soda and little by little add boiled clean water. Once the mixture becomes sufficiently viscous and viscous, it can be applied to the affected areas of the skin. As soon as the soda paste dries, the product should be removed and the skin should be washed with warm water.
How to get rid of hives at home using medications
Various pharmaceutical products are used to treat urticaria:
- antihistamines, for example, Suprastin, Claritin;
- glucocorticoids;
- anabolic steroid.
The last two types of medications are used if the urticaria takes a particularly severe form. Tablets or suspensions are taken at the first signs of the disease. They help cope with itching, relieve swelling, and prevent the formation of blisters on the skin. The antihistamine medication is selected and prescribed by the doctor. Some forms of urticaria can be treated with anticholinergic drugs, for example, Bellataminal, Bellaspon.
Other means and methods
Prevention of the disease is of great importance in the treatment of urticaria. For someone suffering from urticaria, the doctor also prescribes a complex of vitamins and medications that increase tone and reduce vascular permeability:
- riboflavin, vitamins U, C, PP;
- calcium chloride and gluconate;
- iron supplements;
- rutin or salicylates.
Other recommendations that prevent the development of urticaria also ease the course of the disease:
- Bathing, washing your hands and face should be done with warm, but not hot or cold water.
- When bathing, it is better to use special cosmetics.
- It is preferable to wear clothes made from natural fabrics, preferably light cotton.
- It is better to avoid hot, stuffy, damp rooms.
- You need to take natural sedatives, and even better, master relaxation techniques.
- Allergenic foods should be excluded from the diet.
In case of emergency, you should carry with you medications that help stop the development of anaphylactic shock or Quincke's edema.
Home remedies for hives also include laxatives, such as rhubarb tablets or hay tea. They are taken if urticaria worsens, a person begins to feel chills, weakness, nausea, and not just itching and rash.
Urticaria occurs in children and adults, for example, in pregnant women, even if before pregnancy the girl did not notice allergic manifestations, calmly ate chocolate and citrus fruits, and could be in the open sun.
