Chronic hives (urticaria)


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Prevention

By Mayo Clinic staff

The following precautions may help prevent hives and angioedema:

  • Avoid known triggers. These may include certain foods or food additives, alcohol, medications, or situations such as temperature extremes, tight clothing or emotional stress.
  • Keep a diary. Track all of your activities, when and where hives occur, and what you eat. This may help you and your doctor identify triggers.
  • Avoid medications that may trigger hives. These include aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, others), naproxen sodium (Aleve, Anaprox, others), codeine or any other medication that you've noticed can trigger your hives.
Treatments and drugs
References
  1. Hives. American Academy of Dermatology. http://www.aad.org/skin-conditions/dermatology-a-to-z/hives. Accessed April 3, 2011.
  2. All about hives (urticaria). American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. http://www.acaai.org/allergist/allergies/Types/skin-allergies/hives/Pages/default.aspx. Accessed April 3, 2011.
  3. Khan DA. Chronic urticaria: Standard management and patient education. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed April 9, 2011.
  4. Kaplan AP. Urticaria and angioedema. In: Wolff K, et al. Fitzpatrick's Dermatology in General Medicine. 7th ed. New York, NY.: The McGraw-Hill Companies. 2008. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=2958607&searchStr=urticaria#2958607. Accessed April 11, 2011.
  5. Kropfl L, et al. Treatment strategies in urticaria. Expert Opinion on Pharmacotherapy. 2010;11:1445.
  6. Bingham CO. New onset urticaria: Epidemiology, clinical manifestations, and etiologies. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index/html. Accessed April 9, 2011.
  7. Limsuwan T, et al. Acute symptoms of drug hypersensitivity (Urticaria, angioedema, anaphylaxis, anaphylactic shock). The Medical Clinics of North America. 2010;94:691.
  8. Hives: Tips for managing. American Academy of Dermatology. http://www.aad.org/skin-conditions/dermatology-a-to-z/hives/tips/hives-tips-for-managing. Accessed April 11, 2011.
  9. Peroni A, et al. Urticarial lesions: If not urticaria, what else? The differential diagnoses of urticaria. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. 2010;62:557.
  10. Bingham CO. New onset urticaria: Diagnosis and treatment. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index/html. Accessed April 9, 2011.
  11. FDA requests labeling change for leukotriene modifiers. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/2009/ucm166293.htm. Accessed April 12, 2011.
  12. Immunosuppressant drugs: Required labeling changes. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/SafetyInformation/SafetyAlertsforHumanMedicalProducts/ucm171828.htm. Accessed April 12, 2011.
  13. Urticaria treatment. American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. http://www.acaai.org/allergist/allergies/Types/skin-allergies/hives/Pages/urticaria-hives-treatment.aspx. Accessed April 8, 2011.
DS00980 Sept. 17, 2011

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