What Do Hives Look Like and How You Can Treat Them Naturally

You may be looking unhappily in the mirror at those red, itchy rashes on your skin and wondering, “what do hives look like?” We've all heard of hives and at some point, about twenty percent of us will find ourselves breaking out at some point in our lives. Hives appear when a chemical, histamine, is released in the body in large amounts, usually as a result of the body experiencing an allergic reaction. Sometimes a person will break out in hives when they’re under great stress. When histamine is released this way, the plasma within our blood vessels actually leaks out, which in turn causes the swelling of the skin that we know as hives. So, What Do Hives Look Like? Hives can be white or red in color and appear as raised welts on the surface of the skin. Swelling of the skin is also very typical in the areas where the hives have surfaced. Some hives manifest as very large round bumps (welts) on the skin. Others may experience clusters of hives that are irregularly shaped and red in color, or blotchy in appearance. Still others may see round ring-like areas that are white or red in color. Depending on the severity of the outbreak, hives can cover a small area of the body, or a large area such as the entire chest and stomach. Some people experience hive outbreaks in the facial area, arms, and legs, but those occurrences are more rare. Other characteristics of hives are that they can appear quickly, spread like wildfire, and seem to “move” from one area of the body to the next. In other words, don’t be surprised if hives appear on your stomach at one point, disappear, and then reappear on your back or chest. Natural Hives Treatment After you’ve asked yourself the question, “what do hives look like”, the next obvious question that goes through your mind is “what can I do to treat them?” Although there are medications on the market that your physician may prescribe for you, there are several natural hives treatments you can try at home which may bring relief from the symptoms of hives. • Apply aloe Vera gel or pure Vitamin E oil to the affected areas • Calamine lotion can help with the itchiness • Include cayenne pepper, Vitamin E, zinc, and Vitamin C in your daily regimen (capsule form) to help hives heal more quickly • Drink nettle, valerian, passionflower, catnip, peppermint, or chamomile teas • Along with cold compresses in the most affected areas, try a paste concocted from oatmeal and cornstarch with a little water added How To Prevent Hives Outbreaks It’s important to know what causes you to break out in hives. If certain foods cause outbreaks, stay away from those foods. If high levels of stress cause hives for you, try to lower your stress levels. Exercise, relaxation therapies, and stress reliever games are all great ways to lower stress and help to prevent hive outbreaks. Taking regular supplements (as mentioned above) can be helpful if you seem to be prone to hive outbreaks. The presence of Vitamin C, Vitamin E, zinc, and cayenne pepper in your body may help reduce the severity of the outbreaks at the very least.