The various causes of urticaria have been well documented in a number of articles and medical journals and tomes. We will be exploring them. We will even find ourselves getting more and more into the root of the matter on the causes of urticaria. For those who are not familiar with the term, urticaria is the condition that we commonly refer to as 'hives'. Although it is a type of skin rash, it is itchy and is distinguished by the presence of a bump on the surface of the skin. These bumps are typically raised, relative to the rest of the skin, and they are typically red in color.

If we try to categorize the causes of urticaria, we can easily distinguish them into two major classifications. In the first category, we have those that are essentially allergic reactions. And in the second category, we have those that can't be described as allergic reactions.

There are cases where people develop urticaria upon being exposed to certain substances, in the environment or otherwise. Those are the cases where urticaria is said to be presenting due to allergic causes. There are, for instance, some people who will develop urticaria upon using certain medications. It is not strange to see urticaria being caused by drugs or medicines. Simple pain relievers and other, more potent, diabetes medications are quite known for actually bringing about urticaria for some patients. Worth mentioning is the fact that there are some medications that are known to induce urticaria as a common side effect. But some of these turn out to be medications used in the management o f life-threatening conditions. But side effects are often ignored in favor of the fact that these medications are used to cure a greater ill or sickness. That's why they are willing to live with urticaria.

Let us move into the second group of causes, which is the non-allergic reaction ones. We have already mentioned that not all cases of urticaria arise as a result of people being exposed to allergens. Simple scratching of the skin can lead to some people actually ending up having a case of urticaria. Other people are actually very sensitive that firm stroking could actually give rise to urticaria. In fact, it is now established that there are certain people who can have urticaria simply from rubbing their skin.

The non-allergic causes of urticaria we have looked at so far are those that entail the skin being put under some sort of rough pressure. For some people, they can experience urticaria when they are subjected to extreme temperatures. In this particular category, we have two subcategories of urticaria manifestations: those that are cold-induced and those that are heat-induced. Aside from temperatures, urticaria can also be caused by exposure to water. You can easily find a lot of skin creams to remedy this problem. Finally, we have people who are known to exhibit signs of urticaria upon being exposed to the sun. This is known as solar urticaria.