Before you undertake any treatment on urticaria, it is very vital to understand the causes of urticaria. It is a skin condition that causes skin irritation with rashes all over the body. In medical terms, urticaria could be termed as a skin eruption that could be allergic or non-allergic and is always characterized by intense itching and red, circular and irregularly shaped skin eruptions.
Urticaria may not always be allergic in nature. There are different causes for allergic as well as non-allergic chronic urticaria. Some of the non-allergic causes may be related to stress, exercise, temperature and immunity related.
Causes of urticaria:
- Urticaria : Multifactorial Cause
Some of the more common factors inducing urticaria are detailed below:
- Allergens: Some cases of urticaria have been classified due to presence of a large number of allergens. Nevertheless, urticaria is a condition of individual hypersensitivity, hence these factors may not cause urticaria in all individuals. For example, milk, egg, wheat, daals and cereals, peas, oranges, chicken and fish are some food allergens that cause urticaria. Some synthetic and natural/ artificial food additives and flavoured food particles also cause urticaria.
- Urticarial rashes are common with ethanol ingestion. Reactions with alcohol or ethanol are very rare, and these are secondary to other chemicals present in the beverage like papain, dyes, yeasts etc. However, allergic reactions occur due to the offending properties of ethanol itself. One can see the symptoms of anaphylaxis among patients where beer or wine has been ingested.
- Some environmental factors like exposure to dust in the home, fungi, pollen, buffalo dander, sudden change in temperature etc. may cause urticaria. Extreme conditions of heat or cold may also lead to this condition.
- Some of the man made drugs such as penicillin and aspirin also cause urticaria. Certain vaccines, hormonal preparations and contraceptive pills also lead to urticaria. Milk secreted by animals treated with penicillin could cause this condition among sensitive individuals.
- Other factors that contribute to urticaria are insect bites, protozoa, fungi, frequent bacterial infections in the urinal tract, viral infections or hepatitis, worm infestations like round worms and tapeworms. Sometimes contact with pet animals could also lead to urticaria.
- Sometimes use of personal care products like perfumes, talcum powder, deodorant and cosmetics could also lead to urticaria.
- Emotional stress could directly or indirectly lead to urticaria. Especially in the case of chronic urticaria, one should check out for the emotional factors.
- Due to the presence of auto antibodies against the Immunoglobulin, histamine is released and this leads to the condition of urticaria.
Before embarking on a treatment for urticaria, it is vital then, to understand the causes of urticaria. Different factors play varied roles to induce urticaria among individuals. It is very important to note that urticaria is not always allergic in nature.
