Urticaria in the youngest takes the form of spots or protruding red bumps. It can last a few hours or a whole week and occur on every part of the child’s body. It is often sharp. It appears for various reasons – allergies, illness, stress, infection. Diagnosing the cause of chronic urticaria in a child can be difficult, but there are a few common causes.
Hives lasting up to six weeks is defined as acute, longer as chronic. Sometimes it takes the form of a single lesion, other times it covers a larger area of the body, taking the form of papules and spots on the skin. It happens that hives are accompanied by angioedema, i.e. swelling around the hands, throat, mouth, feet or eyes. In a few cases, this means a severe allergic reaction, i.e. anaphylactic shock.
How to recognize hives in a child?
It is easiest to recognize it by the convex, red (also pink), tabby protuberances that can change their shape during the day and appear in a cluster. Sometimes they have a white color inside, and their size can reach a few millimeters to even several centimeters. They itch, burn or are stinging. Blisters can form and disappear within a dozen or so hours, but not always. They bring to mind the appearance of the skin after touching a stinging nettle or after an insect sting.
Sometimes urticaria is accompanied by angioedema. If it appears in the area of the mucous membranes of the larynx and throat, it can cause a feeling of shortness of breath or shortness of breath, fullness in the throat, as well as a change in the timbre of the voice, it can also be life threatening. In a situation where we are dealing with acute allergic urticaria, sometimes there are also symptoms such as abdominal pain, drop in blood pressure and nausea. In any case, you should consult a doctor.
Types and causes of urticaria
There are four main sources of itchy welts:
- Symptomatic urticaria, i.e. appearing as a result of another disease (being its symptom),
- Idiopathic urticariarelated to self-harm,
- Allergic urticariawhich is usually caused by an allergy to drugs or foods,
- Non-allergic urticariacaused, for example, by cold, heat or crowding.
Hives it is formed when cells in the blood release histamine, causing the capillaries to become less tight. Fluid collecting within the skin creates spots and welts. It is often difficult to determine the exact cause, but most often they are:
- Allergy: to drugs, hair, insect stings and bites, food ingredients, pollen,
- Stress,
- Chemicals that have been in contact with the skin
- viral and bacterial infections,
- Low temperatures,
- The action of the sun.