5 Lifestyle Tips for Managing Your Chronic Hives

You’ve itched and scratched for weeks. No, wait, make that MONTHS. And it’s all thanks to relentless hives. The thing is ... your doctor can’t tell what’s causing them. Or how long it will take for them to go away.

All of this is common with chronic hives. More formally known as chronic idiopathic or spontaneous urticaria, these hives come and go at least a few times a week for six weeks or longer. Up to 90% of the time, they have no obvious triggers. Other times, stress, viral infections, tight clothing, temperature and even sunlight can cause a breakout. And this can make you miserable. So, how do you know what to do when you have hives like this?

“Chronic hives aren’t clear cut,” says allergy and immunology specialist Sonya Parashar, MD. “They’re often nebulous — and super frustrating — because there isn’t a clear trigger.”

But this doesn’t mean you’ll have chronic hives forever. They aren’t typically life-threatening and often calm down with treatment and self-care.

Lifestyle adjustments to help manage chronic hives

Chronic hives may even disappear for good, but sometimes, it may take a year or more. Besides patience, here are some changes you can make to help your hives at home.

Manage your stress

While this may seem easier said than done, acknowledging the stress in your life is a big step in reducing the chance of another flare-up. It’s one of the biggest known triggers for chronic hives. It’s important to talk with your doctor about what’s been going on in your life. And it’s OK to ask for help.

Your healthcare provider can prescribe anti-depressants or anti-anxiety medications, but there are other ways to manage your stress. The trick is finding out what works best for you. You may want to try:

• Yoga.
• Walking or other exercise.
• Progressive muscle relaxation.
• Breathing exercises.
• Meditation or mindfulness.
• Therapy.

None of these activities is an instant fix, but you may find you can better manage your stress and anxious thoughts if you start practicing regularly.

Catch enough ZZZs

Sleep is your body’s natural reset system. And when you don’t get enough of it, it affects your body in many ways — including throwing off your immune system and revving up your stress reactions. Often, chronic hives flares can interfere with your sleep thanks to the itching and discomfort. Talk with your provider about treatments to ease the symptoms. Building better sleep habits may also help.

Warm up ... or cool down

Temperatures can cause hives to pop up all over. Some people are sensitive to heat. Others react to cold.

Water can be a big culprit, too. Those relaxing hot showers people love might send you into a scratching frenzy. Or a refreshing dip in a cold pool may leave you covered in angry red welts. Lukewarm water is often a good choice to help limit flares.

But water isn’t the only thing to blame for temperature-related hives. You may discover they flare when you exercise or spend time in a hot, humid environment. Or maybe going outside in the winter sets off a breakout. Even eating or drinking very hot or cold items can trigger chronic hives. You’ll want to avoid extreme temperatures at home and outside and in your food and drinks.

Ask your provider if you’re a good candidate to try desensitizing at home. With this approach, you gradually expose yourself to increasingly hot or cold temperatures, like taking colder showers over time.

Change up your clothing

Chronic hives and tight or scratchy clothing don’t always play well together. Pressure and rubbing from too-tight waistbands, sleeves or straps can irritate your skin, causing a flare. So can wool — or manufactured fabrics like nylon or polyester. Swapping out these fits and fabrics for loose, cotton clothing may help keep irritating flare-ups at bay.

Practice sun protection

Limiting sun exposure isn’t breaking news. Everyone should steer clear of unprotected time in the sun. Blocking those UV (ultraviolet) rays with sunscreen and UV protection is a must. This is especially true if you’ve learned sunlight sets off your own solar flare of hives.

Use sunscreen

There are two types of sunscreens: mineral and chemical. What you use comes down to preference or any recommendations your doctor makes. Either type offers good to excellent coverage with a high sun-protection factor, or SPF.

But many dermatologists recommend mineral sunscreens to people who have sensitive skin. There have been some concerns about chemical sunscreens, which can irritate your skin more than mineral ones. Talk to your provider about what they feel is best for you.

Wear sun-protective clothing

Did you know the sun’s rays can sneak into micro-openings in regular clothing? They’re not as sun-blocking as you may think. You can add an extra layer to your efforts by wearing sun-protective clothing designed to offer ultraviolet protection, or UPF. These pieces have more threads than regular clothing, giving UV rays less area to penetrate. Most sun-protective clothing has a UPF rating of 50 or higher.

Finding the best lifestyle changes for your chronic hives

No two people experience chronic hives in the same way. Everyone has different triggers and frequency of flares. You and your healthcare provider may need to experiment a little to find the right combination of medical treatments and at-home care.

“Making lifestyle adjustments really depends on how open you are to talking about what seems to trigger your hives,” Dr. Parashar says. “It takes patience to build a hive treatment plan, but there’s no need to suffer. And we can be better prepared for flares when you start noticing those red-flag symptoms.”