If you suffer from hives, you’re definitely not alone. Multiple hives causes exist and at some point you may be subject to one or more of them. You might develop hives if you are overly stressed, allergic to something you’ve eaten or it could be a symptom of something else.

Your hives treatment will be more effective when you understand what caused it in the first place. Both acute and chronic hives can be minimized or avoided by understanding the things that cause hives for you. After all, the hives itching and swelling you’re experiencing is either a reaction to something you’ve been exposed to or a symptom of an underlying condition.

What’s Causing Your Hives?

Skin hives can be caused by your body, if you have an allergy to foods, medications or other substances. These may take several minutes, or even a few hours, to appear. A few minutes is all it usually takes for a food allergy to produce hives. On rare occasions, it will take them a few hours. Each case of medication allergy-related hives is different.

It can take as long as a couple weeks for hives to appear when it’s caused by a medication allergy, or it can show up right away. Nearly ten percent of hives allergy cases are chronic, but the rest are acute. Hives are commonly caused by other things, besides medications and food, including dust, pollen and mold. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications are among the most common medications that cause hives.

Chronic or acute stress is another common hive causer. You might not think that you are stressed, or you might only be under a little stress. You might even feel really calm. Your body, on the other hand, could be stressed out and produce a reaction, in the form of hives. Stresses don’t have to be negative, but even positive things can spend too much energy and cause hives.

If you have an infection anywhere in your body, it could be another major cause of hives. When the body responds to fight off something as an allergy or even an infection it most commonly produces a fever and even hives. Bacteria can be a general cause o infection-related hives, but other causes can include illnesses like urinary tract infections, hepatitis and stomach ulcers.

Of course, diseases can also cause hives. Remember, the hives are a signal to you that something is wrong in your body. Commonly, disease-related hives are caused by kidney or liver disease or autoimmune disease. Improper thyroid function can also cause hives to appear. Autoimmune disease is a condition that affects the immune system and attacks healthy skin cells and tissue resulting in hives.

There are plenty of hives treatment choices available, no matter what is causing your hives. Just remember, you need to have patience, since it can take a while to find the right treatment for your hives. It’s important to talk to your doctor about hives solutions, especially if you think your hives are caused by something other than stress or a slight allergy.