Solar urticaria, or hives, is one of the physical hives. This means there is a physical trigger for the hives, sunlight in this case. About one fourth of chronic hives cases are due to a physical cause.

With cases of solar urticaria, the physical trigger for the hives, sunlight, can be a difficult trigger to avoid which makes it unusually annoying. The hives cause the same typical symptoms as any of the hives types, which include redness, itchy spots, and slightly raised areas. But the difference is that in this form of hives, sunlight exposed areas are the only areas where the spots occur. And it can happen in a matter of minutes from exposure on areas not typically exposed like under your shirt or shorts. Don’t confuse it with sunburn, as it will usually go away just as fast after exposure is stopped.

How Does It Happen?

Patients with solar urticaria make their own allergic antibodies against certain proteins in their own skin. The structure of these proteins changes with sunlight exposure, which allows the allergic reaction to occur, causing hives. Sunlight exposure long enough in a person that develops these proteins can even cause anaphylaxis, a much more serious problem.

How Does Solar Urticaria Get Diagnosed?

A diagnosis is typically arrived at when the skin gets exposed to various light sources that are capable of producing different light spectrums, or wavelengths. A dermatologist will usually have this type of equipment to perform this test, whereas your family doctor will probably not. With some chronic solar hives, sunlight of the natural kind will be the only way to make a conclusive diagnosis.

How Is Solar Urticaria Treated

As you might suspect, there is one easy way to stop solar hives, sunlight avoidance. This isn’t very practical for most people and not necessarily healthy either. Everyone can benefit from moderate sunlight exposure.

Antihistamines will sometimes be helpful to ease the symptoms but is only a temporary fix, as are some of the topical steroid creams like hydrocortisone. Prednisone is used in really severe cases but all medicines should be avoided if possible.

A dermatologist can help you in a natural way with solar hives; sunlight desensitization is possible with controlled exposure periods. But you should not try this on your own as you may make the condition worse.

When people get hives, kidney disease is probably not the first thing that comes to mind as a cause. And while most people think of allergies as the most common cause of hives, a viral infection is at least as likely if not more so to be at the cause, especially for children with hives. Kidney disease or liver disease is certainly not rare though.

First Rule Out A Few Other Possible Causes Before Jumping To One Of The Metabolic Diseases

As a cause for hives, kidney disease should not be the first thing you look into. You should rule out some of these more common causes before you investigate a metabolic disease as the source of your hives outbreaks:

• As stated above, rule out viral infections first. Especially in children, be sure there is no recent illness like a urinary tract infection, strep throat, or even something as seemingly unrelated as athlete’s foot.
• Make sure there are not unusually high stress levels or chronic anxiety or depression problems. And don’t immediately rule it out. Most people’s hectic lives add more stress than they think. Stress is a common cause of both acute and chronic hives.
• Allergic reactions. Although only about five or ten percent of chronic hives are caused by allergies. And when they are, pet dander is a likely culprit.
• Chronic infections like hepatitis, bladder infections or stomach ulcers caused by bacteria can cause hives.

Metabolic Diseases Can In Fact Cause Hives, Kidney Disease and Liver Disease Chief among Them

A lot of patients worry that kidney or liver disease may be causing their hives. This is possible. Metabolic diseases are in fact a root cause of some cases of chronic hives. Thyroid function should also be checked.

But usually when a metabolic disease is suspected, it is eventually found to be an autoimmune disease instead. Autoimmune diseases or disorders happen when the immune system attacks a healthy organ or tissue thinking that it is foreign and unwelcome. There are over 75 different autoimmune disorders and if you have or suspect you have one of them you have likely found the cause of your chronic hives.

Many patients experience unexplained hives. Numbness and pain along with the hives is a combination commonly seen in a condition known as fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia is often diagnosed by excluding other conditions but look at some of the other symptoms of fibromyalgia and if you experience a few more along with hives, numbness and pain, you may ask to be treated for “fibro” to see if the symptoms subside.

Besides Hives, Numbness And Pain, What Are Other Symptoms?

Pain is the most common symptom experienced by fibromyalgia sufferers. Many of the other symptoms just come and go often enough that the person never has a day where they feel good.

The pain is musculoskeletal pain and is often accompanied by fatigue. It can come and go, or be migratory as can the hives. Numbness or tingling sensations come and go in different areas as well as opposed to always being in the same place when caused by a pinched nerve or spinal condition.

Other symptoms may be grinding the teeth at night, tight or clenching jaw, headaches, sore throat that comes and goes, heart murmur, digestive problems, heartburn, reflux, and others. Not everyone experiences all of these nor do any of them mean fibromyalgia is the cause. But the one constant is the pain.  It is not unusual to have recurrent hives, numbness, and tingling.  But always the pain in one or many manifestations.

Why Is Pain Such a Constant with Fibromyalgia?

One popular theory is something referred to as Substance P. People with fibromyalgia have triple the amount of Substance P as normal people. This substance carries the pain stimuli to the brain. The brain can interpret pain incorrectly and therefore it responds incorrectly. What one person feels as an itch or tickle, the fibro patient will feel as pain. And to make matter worse, fibromyalgics often have more pain receptors in the brain which only magnifies this pain.

Due to a lack of stage 4 sleep, sometimes fibro patients don’t get enough natural muscle repairs that occur during this sleep stage. So the little muscle traumas that we all experienced are not repaired during sleep. This adds up over time and causes stiffness and pain. Obviously, exercise will usually aggravate pain in these patients so the normal advice of getting more exercise will not help much.

Why the Hives, Numbness Combination

Often an allergic reaction to a pain medication like codeine will cause hives, numbness being unrelated. There are many medicines that cause hives.

But it is not uncommon for fibromyalgia patients to get hives. Numbness, On the other hand is a very common symptom, second only to pain. So be sure to mention it to your doctor so he or she can factor it in to your diagnosis.

For a person treating hives, weight loss may become a real concern. Especially if you already have a weight problem or are obese, extra precautions should be taken be sure you start a hives weight loss program and not just a hives elimination program. Many of the medications used to treat hives will cause weight gain. And with hives, weight loss is even more important because packing on those extra pounds can actually decrease the chances for successfully treating the hives condition.

What Makes Hives Weight Loss So Difficult?

With hives, weight loss is made more difficult for the some of the following reasons:

• Most prescriptions given to treat hives will cause weight gain
• Stress and anxiety, which are common causes of hives, are also known to cause weight gain in many people.
• Some people with chronic hives become so self conscious about their hives and what other may think about it that they stay indoors and “hide”. Inactivity and boredom often lead to overeating.
• Most people with hives are too uncomfortable to exercise. The itchy condition tends to keep people from exercise.

What Can Make Hives Weight Loss Easy?

Conversely, some people with hives end up losing weight. They find out that their hives are a result of a reaction to a certain food so in an effort to get rid of the hives they stop eating almost everything. While this may be good for the hives, weight loss because of not eating is not very healthy. So beware of this opposite weight effect when dealing with your hives condition.

Be Careful How You Try To Lose Weight

A final word about the relationship between hives, weight loss, and weight gain. It can become a confusing vicious cycle of sorts. Some patients develop hives and begin to treat it. They find that they are putting on weight as a result of the treatment and decide to go on a diet. The diet turns into fasting or into only a raw food to get the stubborn pounds off faster. The hives get worse and they end up unhealthy and still with hives.

It has been documented that fasting can be a cause of hives. And any prolonged diet that consists of less than 1000 calories a day can also result in hives. It is not advisable under any case to fast or starve yourself in an attempt to rid yourself of hives. Look for another alternative way to treat the hives condition.

The relationship between hives, weight loss or gain, and diet is a complex and confusing one. It is one that should be explored with the help of a professional with a track record of results in treating hives.