The treatment of hives disease is carried out in several steps. The first step should be to try to avoid the trigger of the hives. However, this is only possible if the cause of the hives is known: for example, if they are caused by certain foods such as nuts or spices, these foods should no longer be eaten. With other triggers such as heat or cold, however, a complete avoidance of the stimuli is hardly possible.
Antihistamines relieve symptoms
The second step in the treatment of hives is the use of antihistamines. They inhibit the release of histamine in the body and thereby relieve the symptoms that occur. This is because histamine is responsible for the water retention in the skin and the unpleasant itching. However, the cause of the hives is not treated by taking the antihistamines.
The exact dosage of antihistamines – which is usually much higher than for hay fever – should always be clarified with your treating physician. In the case of chronic hives, the tablets must often be taken for several months to achieve success.
Take cortisone preparations only for a short time
To achieve rapid relief of symptoms, glucocorticoids such as cortisone can also be taken instead of antihistamines in the third step after consultation with a doctor. Cortisone, like antihistamines, helps suppress hives symptoms. However, cortisone preparations should be taken only when the disease is severe, and even then only for a short time, because they can have serious side effects.
Finding the cause of hives
In addition to treating the symptoms, hives therapy should primarily aim to find the trigger and cause of the disease. A first step here is a detailed discussion with the treating physician, in which the patient describes exactly in which situations the typical hives symptoms occur.
Depending on the suspicion, the attending physician will then perform some tests – for example, an allergy test or a provocation test. If a disease is the cause of the hives, the treatment must aim to cure the underlying disease or improve the patient’s health.
If a physical stimulus is the trigger of hives, it is often impossible to avoid it completely in daily life. Therefore, it is important for the affected person to know the trigger as precisely as possible. If hives are triggered by pressure, for example, it is necessary to find out whether and which parts of the body react particularly sensitively and how strong the pressure must be for the typical symptoms to occur.
Hives: avoid stress
Because of the many different causes of hives, it is not uncommon for the doctor and patient to be unable to locate the trigger of the symptoms. Then it can be helpful to keep a hives diary over a longer period of time by noting in which situations the condition occurs. In addition, an attempt should be made to avoid possible triggers such as stress or psychological pressure.
