Do You Get Hives From Stress?

Believe it or not, the most common diagnosis for hives is stress. Hives from stress tend to occur whether the stress is a bad one or a good one. A good stress, really I hear you asking? Yes, stressors such as a new job, marriage, a new baby in the family can actually cause hives as much as bad stresses such as a death in the family, finances, family conflict or extramarital affairs, sexual dysfunction or workplace issues. Stress on the body is stress regardless of the cause and the body doesn’t care, it just wants to protect itself.

In most cases, hives from stress are the acute type that last for less than 6 weeks and usually come and go in relation to the stressors. Granted, sometime when a person is experiencing stress their symptoms from chronic rashes can worsen.
Why do we get hives from stress?

The body has a built in system to protect itself called the immune system. When the body feels it is being attacked it releases histamines. The histamines are a chemical compound that acts as an irritant as a defense. Unfortunately, it is essentially attacking itself by causing the itchy, sometimes burning raised red bumps on the skin. In some cases, a person experiencing stress may incur such a physical response. In such cases the rash or hives will come and go in accordance to the stressor.
What can you do about Stress Hives?

It is often true that when we are experiencing stress in life we tend to neglect things that seem less important. Skin care is probably pretty low on many peoples list of important things in life. But, if you neglect your skin, especially the hives that occur during times of stress, you may be in for longer term suffering than if you simply take these small and easy actions to help yourself recover from hives caused by stress:

•    Perform regular skin care as per usual. Some OTC skin creams can help soothe aggravated   skin hives.
>     Learn some stress management techniques:
>     Breathing exercises
>    Meditation
>    Visualization
•    Get in some regular exercise to release endorphins and adrenalin that may lift your stressful emotions or mental health.
•    In some cases either oral or topical anti-histamines may help. These medical treatments essentially block the histamines  from reacting to stressors.

If you find that you develop short term hives from stress you may be able to find relief through mental exercises or medical treatment or a combination of the two. For example, if your stressor is giving speeches, you may be able to help yourself with breathing exercises before delivering the speech.

If you develop a rash anyway, try calming your mind before taking a medication and see if that help diminish the hives first. Or, you can try medications before delivering the speech to calm your nerves, thus preventing the body’s histamines from reacting in the first place. These methods along or a combination of methods will surely help you gain some control of your hives from stress.