Symptom: Hives

Introduction: Hives

Hives: Specific type of skin rash. See free access online books about Hives below. See detailed information below for a list of 101 causes of Hives, including diseases and drug side effect causes.

» Review Causes of Hives: full list

Causes of Hives:

The following medical conditions are some of the possible causes of Hives. There are likely to be other possible causes, so ask your doctor about your symptoms.

• Hives
• Allergies - see also causes of allergies and types of allergies
  • Food allergy
  • Food preservative allergy
  • Food coloring allergy
  • Insect allergy
  • Bee sting allergy
  • See also types of allergies
• Stress
• Viruses
• Certain diseases
• Lupus
• Sunlight
• Heat exposure
• Cold exposure
• Pressure on the skin
• Exercise
• Sweating
• Certain medications
• See also causes of hives

See full list of 101 causes of Hives

» Review Causes of Hives: full list

Causes of Types of Hives:

Review the causes of these more specific types of Hives:

• Hive-like face swelling

More types of Hives

Causes of General Symptom Types

Research the causes of these more general types of symptom:

• Skin symptoms (1828 causes)
• Rash (559 causes)
• Skin problems (1677 causes)

Causes of Similar Symptoms to Hives

Research the causes of these symptoms that are similar to, or related to, the symptom Hives:

• Skin rash (559 causes)
• Eczema (29 causes)
• Allergies

Diagnostic Guides for Hives

Medical Books Excerpts Read excerpts from published book sections related to Hives from the following published medical books for more detailed information about Hives. Free access (no registration): read all online diagnostic book sections about Hives

Copyright notice for book excerpts: Copyright © 2008 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.

Misdiagnosis and Hives

Psoriasis often undiagnosed cause of skin symptoms in children: Children who suffer from the skin disorder called psoriasis can often go undiagnosed. The main problem is that psoriasis is rare in children, and not often seen by physicians for this reason. children may receive treatment for fungal skin infections. See misdiagnosis of psoriasis or symptoms of psoriasis....read more »

Read more about Misdiagnosis and Hives

Diagnostic tests for Hives:

Various tests are used in the diagnosis of Hives. Some of these are listed below :

• Physical examination
  • Examine the skin lesions and determine sites, distribution and characteristics
  • Examine for features of SLE
  • Examine lymph nodes
• Blood tests

See full list of 15 diagnostic tests for Hives

Diagnosis Checklist: Questions your doctor may ask (and why!)

During a consultation, your doctor will use various techniques in their assessment of Hives. Your doctor may ask several questions when assessing your condition. It is important to remember that your consultation is a two-way process and any extra information you can share with your doctor about your symptoms may help them with their diagnosis. Some of the questions your doctor may ask are listed below:

• When did the hives first appear? - to help determine if acute (minutes to weeks) or chronic (lasting more than 2 months).
• Are you certain that the rash is hives? - the three characteristic features of hives are transient erythema (redness of the skin), transient edema (swelling of the skin) and transient itch. Hives affects the superficial skin (dermis) and occurs anywhere on the body, especially the limbs and trunk; compared to angioedema which affects the deeper layers and also may occur anywhere but especially around the eyes, lips and neck.
• Where on the body are the hives? - may occur anywhere, but especially the limbs and trunk.
• Have you had hives previously? - Hives may be acute recurrent or chronic recurrent.
• Have you any idea what may have caused the hives? - possible causes include allergies (e.g. azo dyes; medications such as penicillin, aspirin and codeine; certain foods such as eggs, fish, cheese, shellfish, fish, nuts, strawberries; certain plants such as nettles), infection (parasites, bacteria, yeasts). systemic lupus erythematosus, non-Hodgkins lymphoma, hepatitis B, pregnancy (last trimester), related to physical stimuli such as heat, cold, sunlight, pressure or sweating. Note:- 80% of cases have unknown causes.

See Diagnosis Checklist for Hives (13 listings)

Diagnosis Checklist: Associated symptoms your doctor may ask about (and why!)

Sometimes, other symptoms may be present and may help your doctor analyse your condition. The symptoms your doctor may ask about (in association with Hives) may include:

• Itch? - is always present with hives.
• Symptoms of angioedema? - e.g. stridor, wheeze, hoarseness of the voice, shortness of breath, swelling of the face.
• Symptoms of systemic lupus erythematosus? - e.g. peak onset age 20-40, 90% are women, fever, tiredness, butterfly-shaped red rash over face, multiple drug allergies, Raynaud's phenomenon.
• Symptoms of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma? - e.g. painless enlargement of lymph nodes (localized or widespread), sweating, itch.

See Diagnosis Checklist for Hives (13 listings)

Stories from Users for Hives

Real-life user stories relating to Hives:

• chronic hives
• Hives?!?!?
• Chronic Hives - 6 years
• chronic hives
• continuous hives. any suggestions
• Hives,they wont go away!
• Hives
• Hives
• Chronic Hives
• Hives
• hives and celiac
• hives
• Hives

Symptom specific forums: The following patient stories in our interactive forums and message boards relate to Hives or relevant symptoms:

• Integumentary (Skin) (244)
  • Itchy red bumps all over body? Hives?
  • Sensitive Skin to Touch
  • Painful skin and no answers!!!
  • Pinprick red dots, itchy skin, wrongly diagnosed
  • Skin blisters, joint & muscle pain, Photos..
  • More user stories
• Neurological (Nerves) (357)
  • Could this be MS?
  • Numbness and tingling all over
  • Tingling/numbness in arms/hands/legs/face/head [more symptoms]
  • Eye twitch
  • Essential tremor
  • More user stories
• Allergic/Immunologic (88)
  • Chronic hives
  • Spontaneous flushing and redness of face and body.
  • Non-stop itching, no rash
  • Swelling & itching
  • Problems with my scalp can anyone help me
  • More user stories

Videos for Hives

Patient Surveys for Hives

• Patient Profile Survey
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• Survey about diseases related to your Hives
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Causes of Hives listed in Disease Database:

Other medical conditions listed in the Disease Database as possible causes of Hives as a symptom include:

• Anaphylactoid reactions
• Anaphylaxis
• Ancylostoma braziliense
• Ancylostoma caninum
• Angioedema (acquired)
• Asparaginase
• Aspirin
• Blood transfusion and complications
• C1 esterase inhibitor (C1-INH) deficiency
• Captopril
• Ceftriaxone
• Cephalosporins
• Cholinergic urticaria
• Churg-Strauss syndrome
• Cilazapril
• CINCA syndrome
• Ciprofloxacin
• Contact urticaria
• Dornase alfa
• Enalapril

See full list of 101 causes of Hives
- (Source - Diseases Database)

Medications or substances causing Hives:

The following drugs, medications, substances or toxins are some of the possible causes of Hives as a symptom. Always advise your doctor of any medications or treatments you are using, including prescription, over-the-counter, supplements, herbal or alternative treatments.

• Antibiotics
• Aspirin
• Clonidine
• Catapres
• Apo-Clonidine

See full list of 202 medications causing Hives

Drug interactions causing Hives:

When combined, certain drugs, medications, substances or toxins may react causing Hives as a symptom. Always advise your doctor of any medications or treatments you are using, including prescription, over-the-counter, supplements, herbal or alternative treatments.

• Blocadren (Timolol) and Adalat (Nifedipine) interaction
• Blocadren (Timolol) and Procardia (Nifedipine) interaction
• Blocadren (Timolol) and Calan (Verapamil) interaction
• Blocadren (Timolol) and Isoptin (Verapamil) interaction
• Blocadren (Timolol) and Verelan (Verapamil) interaction

See full list of 71 drug interactions causing Hives

Article Excerpts about Hives

Each year about 15% of all Americans experience hives on the skin or angioedema (swelling of the throat tissues) due to allergic reactions. Hives are an allergic reaction often due to food or plants. The reaction is characterized by a raised, itchy area of skin. It can be rounded or flat-topped, but it is always elevated above the surrounding skin. (Source: excerpt from Allergies: NWHIC)

Each year about 15% of all Americans experience hives on the skin or angioedema (swelling of the throat tissues) due to allergic reactions. Hives are an allergic reaction often due to food or plants. The reaction is characterized by a raised, itchy area of skin. It can be rounded or flat-topped, but it is always elevated above the surrounding skin. (Source: excerpt from Allergies: NWHIC)

Definitions of Hives:

Hives: (1) SYN: urticaria. (2) SYN: wheal.
Source: Stedman's Medical Spellchecker, © 2006 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.

An itchy skin eruption characterized by weals with pale interiors and well-defined red margins; usually the result of an allergic response to insect bites or food or drugs.
- (Source - Diseases Database)

An itchy skin eruption characterized by weals with pale interiors and well-defined red margins; usually the result of an allergic response to insect bites or food or drugs
- (Source - WordNet 2.1)

Organs affected by Hives:

The list of organs typically affected by Hives may include, but is not limited to:

• Skin

Detailed list of causes of Hives

The list below shows some of the causes of Hives mentioned in various sources:

• Allergies - see also causes of allergies and types of allergies
• Anaphylactoid reactions
• Anaphylaxis - urticaria (rash)
• Ancylostoma braziliense
• Ancylostoma caninum

See full list of 101 causes of Hives

How Common are these Causes of Hives?

This information refers to the general prevalence and incidence of these diseases, not to how likely they are to be the actual cause of Hives. Of the 101 causes of Hives that we have listed, we have the following prevalence/incidence information:

• 2 causes are "very common" diseases
• 4 causes are "common" diseases
• 1 causes are "uncommon" diseases
• 1 causes are "rare" diseases
• 2 causes are "very rare" diseases
• 92 causes have no prevalence information.

See the analysis of the prevalence of 101 causes of Hives

Conditions listing symptoms: Hives:

The following list of conditions have 'Hives' or similar listed as a symptom in our database. This computer-generated list may be inaccurate or incomplete. Always seek prompt professional medical advice about the cause of any symptom.

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Causes of Hives Based on Risk Factors

This information shows analysis of the list of causes of Hives based on whether certain risk factors apply to the patient: