Hives in Babies

Contents:

• Hives Treatment for Babies
• Symptoms of the Disease
• Etiology
• Types of Hives
• Form of the Disease Treatment
• Diagnosis of Hives
• Treatment of Hives in Children

Hives Treatment for Babies

Among the most common allergic diseases in children, affecting primarily the skin, an important place is given to hives. It can quite easily be diagnosed by parents themselves. Most often the disease discomforts children up to 3 years of age, but hives` presentations are also possible in adolescents and adults.

Symptoms of the Disease

In case of hives, baby`s body (often in skin folds, lips, in the areas of the close contact with clothes) is covered with light pink or deep red blisters completely different in size and shape. These rashes itch severely, as a result, a child starts to claw them, which leads to their significant increase in size and conjugation with each other. If you gently push down on such spots, you will notice white bulging points in their center.

The appearance of hives is skin response on intake of allergen, which contributes to production of a large amount of histamine, thereby thinning the walls of blood vessels and their better permeability. Thus, the skin gets a significant amount of liquid, which is followed by swelling and blisters filled with water.

The peculiarity of hives is their typically fast extinction. The skin rash usually lasts no more than a few hours (in rare cases-up to 2 days), after which it disappears from the former area and emerges in a totally different area of skin.

Etiology

The most important thing while detecting hives in your child is to find the cause of the disease, which is often an allergen. If this is not done and the contact with the causative agent is kept, the kid's state will worsen, you will see a hypersensitivity of the skin and its swelling. The Quincke's disease can happen in severe cases.

Therefore, we offer you a list of the most common irritants that cause hives:

• food stuffs: milk, eggs, sausage, seafood, nuts, honey, carrot, strawberry, melon, citrus, apples, chocolate or various kinds of food additives;
• infections caused by viruses, bacteria or parasites;
• medicines: antibiotics, analgesics, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, ACE inhibitors, b-group vitamins, etc.;
• impurities in the air: dust, pollen, floss and wool, etc.;
• physical stimuli: heat, cold, sunlight, water, vibration, sweat, friction, etc.);
• bites: venom of bees, wasps, jellyfish, etc.;
• some perfumery products, dyes;
• nickel or resins.

Types of Hives

The acute and chronic forms of the disease are distinguished depending on the cause of hives, their nature and duration.

Acute Hives

The symptoms of acute hives usually appear abruptly (within 1-2 hours after exposure to the allergen), so, it is often quite simple to determine the cause. In these conditions, the symptoms will manifest each time after direct contact with the allergen. The duration of the most acute cases is usually 24-48 hours. The disease is easily treatable.

Chronic Hives

In the case of the duration of the rash for more than a few weeks, it is worth talking about the chronic form of the disease. It is successfully treated in children; and approximately in 50% of cases, the disease disappears on its own within 6 months. However, there are times when the disease is resistant to ongoing treatment, which results in the persisting of the disease for many years. Fortunately, chronic hives occur quite rarely. In this case, the compulsory recourse to a pediatrician or a dermatologist for further consultation is recommended.

Form of the Disease Treatment

Hives may proceed in mild, moderate and severe forms. In case of a mild form, the state of a sick child is satisfactory. Symptoms are typical, but they are poorly expressed. Thus, for example, the itch is not strong, the intoxication is not expressed, there is no swelling. Typically, in case of mild hives, the rash coves one area not more than 24 hours, and then it disappears.

The moderate form of the disease is characterized by deterioration in the condition of a child. There are expressed symptoms of intoxication, a fever may be present, the Quincke's disease (giant hives) appears on some areas of the body it is a quickly and abruptly resulting allergic swelling of the skin, which spreads throughout the body within a short space of time. Therewith, eyelids and lips become swollen first; and then the baby`s hands and face become drastically changed, and swelling of the larynx leads to breathing disorder. Also in moderate form, the disease damages the gastro-intestinal tract. The combination of hives with swelling of the larynx is quite dangerous.

In severe form, all of the above-mentioned symptoms are florid and quite severe.

Diagnosis of Hives

To diagnose hives in children and reveal their reason is usually fairly easy. To do this, you should usually let know the doctor the time and place of the appearance of the first symptoms. To confirm the diagnosis, the doctor will take the skin tests, will conduct a thorough survey and send the child to undergo a blood test.

Treatment of Hives in Children

Let's figure out what to do if a child has hives and how to treat the disease.

The treatment of hives is provided in 4 phases:

• Amelioration of the allergen exposure.
• Purification of the body.
• Intake of drugs (drug therapy).
• Dieting.

First, you need to remove the effect of any factors that might trigger the disease. If hives appeared as a result of food allergy, it is required to get the causative agent out of the kids` body as soon as possible (give him a laxative and constantly make him drink much liquid).

Cleansing enema. It is usually applied in the case of food allergies. It is maximum effective in the early hours of hives.

Drug therapy. The most effective drugs to treat hives are antihistamines. They relieve the acute form of the disease, reduce itching or even eliminate the rash. They can be applied by injection or in a pill form. The intake of such medications is helpful at night, especially if a kid get trouble sleeping due to the disease, as they cause drowsiness. In addition, compresses can help to eliminate itching (mix a tablespoon of vinegar with a glass of cool water and apply it as a compressor on the affected area of the body).

Dieting. Dieting will help to keep the effect of treatment and hinder the causative agent from penetrating into your kids` body. If hives are caused by food allergen, you should primarily eliminate a possible irritant from the daily diet of the child and try to strictly adhere to the hypoallergenic diet for 2-4 weeks.

The above-mentioned diet can include kefir, cottage cheese, steamed or boiled vegetables, as well as some kinds of non-allergenic fruit. In doing so, exclude the consumption of pastry and baking, strong tea, salt in large quantities and canned products. During the rehabilitation period, do not give your child eggs, milk, carrots, beets, red peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, citrus fruits, apples, cocoa, honey, nuts, as well as any smoked and fried foods and condiments.

In the meantime, you can gradually add new products in a small quantity into the menu of your child. If during a week after adding new products, hives do not appear again, you can include boiled fish and meat into your kid`s diet. However, the shift to a standard food should not happen earlier than in a month.

In case of hives, it is prohibited to take hot baths and sunbathe, because ultraviolet light has a negative impact on healthy skin, not to mention the irritated one. Therefore, if your child breaks out in hives in the summer, dub his skin with quality sunscreen before going outdoors. Pay special attention to the treatment of this disease, because hives take the 2nd place after asthma among dangerous allergic states.