Does urticaria have a cure? What is the treatment?

Expert answer:

THE urticaria, when the cause is identified and removed, can be cured, but many cases become chronic and require continuous treatment for many years. THE urticaria is a cutaneous disease characterized by the appearance of high, reddish and very itchy lesions.

Acute conditions, that is, less than six weeks in duration, have treatment based on the use of antihistamines such as loratadine, ebastine, cetirizine, fexofenadine, or first generation, such as hydroxyzine, dexchlorpheniramine, ketotifen and doxepin.

O treatment of chronic urticaria, the one lasting more than six weeks consists of:

  • remove the cause, which is often not identified;
  • reduce emotional stress, overheating of the body and alcohol intake;
  • avoid the use of acetylsalicylic acid, non-hormonal anti-inflammatories, codeine and morphine;
  • avoid the use of ACE inhibitors such as captopril and enalapril;
  • special diets only if there is suspicion of associated alimentary cause;
  • drug treatment:
    • first line: second-generation antihistamines. One can start treatment with one of these medicines: cetirizine 10mg / day, fexofenadine 180mg / day, desloratadine 5mg / day, loratadine 10mg / day or epinastine 20mg / day. If there is no improvement, first-generation antihistamines, such as hydroxyzine, may be associated with 25mg to 100mg / day orally, fractionating 25mg every eight to six hours. Clemastine, dexchlorpheniramine and cyproheptadine are further options.
    • second line: oral corticosteroids, which should be used for a short period of time. Another option is the use of montelukast.
    • third line: immunosuppressants or immunomodulators such as cyclosporin, methotrexate, immunoglobulin, colchicine, dapsone, hydroxychloroquine, sulfasalazine and nifedipine.

Urticaria can sometimes be a difficult-to-control disease and, depending on the cause, can not having a cure. The doctor dermatologist should be consulted for appropriate diagnosis and treatment.

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