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 Hives (urticaria) in toddler's are often thought to be an allergic reaction to a new food that has been introduced to your child's diet. In reality, hives are caused by a multitude of factors, ranging from environmental allergens to changes in body temperatures in your child.
What are hives?
Hives are a type of allergy or immune system reaction that result in the chemical, histamine, being released in your child's body. This histamine works as the bodies natural defense mechanism to protect the immune system from what it perceives to be a "foreign invader". In mild cases hives are relatively harmless and the symptoms will resemble a rash. In severe cases wheezing and swelling are present and in the rare event of a anaphylactic reaction - immediate medical attention is required.
Individual hives are known as welts or wheals. These welts can appear on any part of your child's body, but are commonly found on the trunk, throat, arms and legs.
What do they look like?
The symptoms of hives include:
raised pink and red areas of the skin
itching
welts forming both individually and in clusters
large variations in size - a small dot, through to a dinner plate
seemingly temporary - one cluster will go away, while a new batch will appear somewhere else on the body.
An individual hive has a life-span of 24 hours, if it last longer, this is an indication your child may be suffering from another skin-related condition.
The culprits:
Hives cannot be attributed to one thing, in fact in one-third of cases, the cause of the hives remains unknown. A process of elimination can be the best way to determine if your child has hives or it is another skin rash or insect bite. The below are lists of likely possibilities that will result in hives in your child:
insect bites and stings
foods: The common food allergens of milk, egg, peanut, tree-nuts, fish, shell-fish and soy as well as chocolate, berries and tomatoes
allergens - house-hold pets and environmental allergens
temperature - usually due to cold temperatures, but can also include quick temperature changes
medication - prescription drugs and anti-biotics
illness and infections - bacterial, viral or parasitic.
Treatments: The allergy medication, anti-histamine, is often be used as a treatment for hives in the short-term, along with paracetamol medicines to alleviate the itching , swelling and redness of the hives. Steroids are less commonly used to treat an episode of hives in your child.
If your childs hives do persist for more than six weeks, an allergy specialist may be required to help determine the cause of the hives. At home, a useful and easy tool that can be utilised, is to keep a diary of what food, drink and medications your child has come into contact with. The best cure for hives adheres to the age-old adage, " preventions is better than the cure".
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