Stress can cause hives, an itchy, raised rash that can appear anywhere on the body. While harmless, they can be unpleasant and chronic. Antihistamines can help treat common cases, but hives on the face, neck, or throat may require medical attention.
Hives and stress are a common ailment that many medical professionals suspect are the body’s physical response to mental and emotional strain. Hives are an inflamed, raised, itchy rash that often fades as soon as it appears. Stress, or feeling overwhelming emotions, has been known to cause hives to suddenly appear. Hives can appear sporadically or in response to a specific trigger. They can also develop chronically in an individual, with a person experiencing them frequently throughout their lives.
Also called hives, hives can form virtually anywhere on the body. There are many reasons hives develop, such as exposure to an irritating tissue or soap or extreme heat or cold, and stress commonly causes them to appear. While the exact correlation between hives and stress has not been determined, it is generally accepted that stress compromises the body’s immune system and decreases its ability to fight off infections and other health threats. In response to this stress, the body releases histamine, a chemical compound that acts as an irritant and causes skin inflammation, such as hives.
Stress-induced hives, while harmless, can be unpleasant. The appearance of hives can range from individual small raised areas to inflamed welts that fuse together to form plaques on the skin. Additionally, hives are itchy and can seem to appear out of nowhere, with little stimulation or no clear or apparent trigger. They can last anywhere from a few minutes to several hours and can disappear and reappear for weeks at a time. Frequently appearing hives can worry or disturb an individual, cause emotional tension and thus perpetuate the cycle of hives and stress.
Hives are considered a nuisance to the individual rather than a threat to his health and are not particularly dangerous. To treat common cases of hives and stress, an antihistamine — an anti-inflammatory agent that blocks the histamine reaction in the body — is applied topically to the affected area of skin or taken as an oral medication. However, hives can appear anywhere on the body, and it’s not uncommon for the rash to develop on the face, neck, and throat. Hives in these areas can potentially impede breathing and a person may require medical attention. In such cases, a person will typically be given steroids to clear up the hives and inflammation.
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