How to get rid of hives that keep coming back

A sudden onset of hives (acute hives) usually has an identifiable cause or trigger — such as insect stings or bites, medications, certain foods, allergens, or infections. Acute hives go away within a few weeks and are usually effectively treated with antihistamines.

There is a condition called chronic idiopathic urticaria (ur-ti-KAIR-ee-uh). Simply put, it means hives that stick around for more than six weeks for no known reason. Many people call it CIU. About 1.5 million people in the U.S. have it.

They’re often caused by an allergic reaction to a food or medicine. Usually, they go away quickly. For a small number of people, though, hives come back again and again, with no known cause. When new outbreaks happen almost every day for 6 weeks or more, it’s called chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU).

Your dermatologist can perform different screenings such as blood work, allergy tests, or a skin biopsy to determine the cause of your hives and rule out an illness or infection if the cause is not evident.

What do stress hives look like? Stress hives can look a little like bug bites: both are red, puffy, and itchy, and may appear initially as individual bumps, says Stevenson. However, hives are more often irregular in shape and can join together in larger patches, especially if you scratch them.

There are actually a number of different things that can cause people to break out in hives, including anxiety. When this happens, people can develop an itchy rash on the skin known as anxiety hives, also sometimes known as a stress rash.

Benadryl is effective for decreasing itchy skin from hives. It’s often considered a first-choice treatment for hives. But although it’s effective for decreasing symptoms of seasonal allergies, Benadryl isn’t often used for this purpose. This is due to side effects such as sleepiness.

Hives and itching often worsen at night because that’s when the body’s natural anti-itch chemicals are at their lowest.

Hives usually go away on their own within a few days to a week. But for some, hives become a chronic, or long-term, issue. If you develop hives and they last longer than six weeks, you may have a condition known as chronic hives.

Treatments Doctors Use for Hives

Doctors usually prescribe antihistamines as a first course of treatment for hives. Acute cases can generally be treated with over-the-counter antihistamines like Benadryl, Claritin (loratadine), Allegra (fexofenadine), and Zyrtec (cetirizine).

Rubbing or scratching: Avoid harsh soaps. Frequent baths may reduce itching and scratching – beneficial because itching and scratching can make the hives feel worse.

Hot showers or baths can make hives worse. “Heat can cause vasodilation, which essentially gives your hives more blood supply and a chance to spread,” Dr. Ogden says. Instead, take a cold shower or a cool bath to calm the itch.

Relieve the itch at home.

Wear loose-fitting, cotton clothes. Apply a cold compress, such as ice cubes wrapped in a washcloth, to the itchy skin several times a day—unless cold triggers your hives. Use anti-itch medication that you can buy without a prescription, such as an antihistamine or calamine lotion.

Do not scratch hives or a rash. Put a cold, moist towel on them or take cool baths to relieve itching. Put ice packs on hives, swelling, or insect stings for 10 to 15 minutes at a time.

Colloidal oatmeal

Share on Pinterest Colloidal oatmeal can relieve itching and dryness. Colloidal oatmeal is finely ground oatmeal that a person can dissolve in water. The resulting solution forms a protective barrier on the surface of the skin, which helps to seal in moisture.

Sometimes petroleum jelly (Vaseline) can help relieve the discomfort caused by a rash. A moisturizing lotion, such as Cetaphil, also may help. Calamine lotion may help for rashes caused by contact with something (such as a plant or soap) that irritated the skin. Use it 3 or 4 times a day.

A proper diagnosis is important to help with rash treatment. Don’t use rubbing alcohol on your skin. It does not help healing, does not eliminate infectious bacteria, it stings, dries out your skin, and makes rashes like eczema worse. Don’t use bar soap.

Don’t clean open wounds with hydrogen peroxide or bleach. They do not promote healing and aggravate most rashes. Don’t use triple-antibiotic ointment (such as Neosporin®).

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