Pathophysiology is actually the study of changes of normal biochemical, mechanical, and physical functions, in the human body which are caused by a disease or any other abnormal syndrome.

This post will describe the pathophysiology of urticaria. You might think that this should be only useful for medical students or professionals but if you are understand it, you can go about urticaria treatment in a better way.

Urticaria is caused by the release of histamines, bradykinin, leukotriene C4, and some other vasoactive fluids by the mast cells (which are a part of our defense mechanism). This can involve capillary or membrane damage as well. When these fluids e.g. histamines are released into the dermis, the rashes of urticaria appear on the skin, which are itchy and usually red in color. Physical urticaria is usually caused by physical stimuli, whereas in chronic urticaria the causes are usually unknown.

Do not miss the next post upcoming week which has some great tips for avoiding urticaria.

Today’s post has four simple tips for managing urticaria, no matter if it is autoimmune urticaria, physical urticaria or any other type.

1: Sort out the causes and triggers, and avoid them as much as you can. For example if you are suffering from heat induced urticaria, avoid hot temperature.
2: Avoid offending stimuli, allergens or foods that can cause allergies like  eggs, nuts, wheat, dairy products etc. Remember, different people can be allergic to different foods. Food elimination technique can be helpful i.e. avoiding one type of food at one time and noting the results and then repeating with other types. This can be time consuming though!
3: Do not rub or unnecessarily touch the rashes, this can cause the rashes to blister and increase itching.
4: Consult a qualified doctor for timely diagnosis and treatment and choose medicines which do not have side effects e.g. herbal products.

You can read about urticaria and related conditions in my post next week.

As promised earlier, today I will describe the best medicines, drugs and therapies which will help when wondering How to Treat Urticaria? As a matter of fact, every drug or therapy is suited to a specific sort of urticaria and a correct diagnosis is very important before any treatment. In other words, medicines that are popular for chronic urticaria might not work in the case of physical urticaria.

Oral antihistamines are the most commonly ingested drug for treating urticaria besides certain herbal medicine and Chinese acupuncture.

The first choice should be to take non-sedating antihistamines e.g. Loratadine, Fexofenadine, Cetirizine, Levocetirizine and Desloratadine. In case the symptoms persist, you can take mildly sedating antihistamines e.g. Hydroxyzine, Diphenhydramine and Chlorpheniramine.

For severer cases H1 Antagonists (alone or along with antihistamines), Oral Corticosteroids, Tricyclic Antidepressants and Epinephrine can be ingested.

Now you know about the urticaria medicine, however, there are some drugs which must be avoided. I will be posting about them next.

A major percentage of people suffering from chronic urticaria have a physical cause and this type of chronic urticaria is called physical urticaria.

In physical urticaria the skin may become raised and inflamed, especially when stroked, scratched, rubbed, or slapped. Sometime it might vanish and in some cases it might stay much longer or reappear after a while.

Physical urticarias are not lethal, but it can cause extreme pain and sometimes suffocation as well. Remember there is no such thing as a little disease. You must consult a doctor for treatment or you will be hiding somewhere in a dark room to avoid people. Click here for detailed information and reliable treatment of physical urticaria.