Doing so could break open the hive, which could put you at risk of infection, Friedman says. One of the most important steps in managing hives is resisting the urge to scratch that itch. “Hydrocortisone may help a little Neosporin, as an antibiotic, will do nothing other than kill the normal bacteria on the skin and topical Benadryl has been known to cause contact dermatitis (an allergic reaction that looks like eczema),” Dr. Skip the Topical CreamsĪnd don’t be tempted to try topical therapies, either. “Taking medication at this point is more about preventing another versus treating the existing one,” says Adam Friedman, MD, a professor and chair of dermatology at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Washington, DC.īut don’t reach for aspirin and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, as they could make your hives worse, he says. Elmariah says - and you can continue taking the antihistamine until you do so or your doctor tells you otherwise. If you break out in hives again after the medicine wears off, take it for three to five days and then stop to see if you get more hives. ( 3) Do Use OTC AntihistaminesĪ 24-hour over-the-counter antihistamine like loratadine and pseudoephedrine (Claritin), cetirizine (Zyrtec), or fexofenadine (Allegra), or a short-acting allergy medication like diphenhydramine (Benadryl) can help relieve itching and discomfort, says Sarina Elmariah, MD, PhD, a board-certified dermatologist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.Īntihistamines are designed to reduce or block histamine, a chemical in your body that’s responsible for hives’ welt-like bumps and itching. But there are steps you can take to relieve the itching and perhaps prevent another hive from coming. ( 2) There’s not much you can do to make them go away more quickly during that time. While they may seem alarming, most hives disappear within 24 hours. Read the Nature paper: Cao, C., Kang, H.J., Singh, I. et al. Structure, function and pharmacology of human itch GPCRs. Nature (2021).Hives can show up as a solo lesion or in clusters. “Knowing precisely how all this plays out at the molecular level will help us and others create better ways to control the role of these two receptors in itchiness and other conditions,” Roth said.įor more detail on how they conducted the research read the full article of the same title published by Mark Derewicz on UNC Health & SOM Newsroom. Antihistamines are designed to tamp down the itch response, but they and other anti-itching medications do so clumsily, tripping other cell signaling pathways to cause side effects such as drowsiness, blurred vision, dry mouth, nausea, etc. Drugs such as nateglinide for diabetes, as well as morphine, codeine, and the cough suppressant dextromethorphan are known to cause this reaction. Several drugs unintentionally flood these receptors to trigger the release of histamines, causing the side effect of itching. When it comes to itch, Roth’s lab identified two receptors called MRGPRX2 on the surface of mast cells and MRGPRX4 on itch-sensing neurons that live in connective tissue and play roles in allergies, immune tolerance, wound healing and other factors in health and disease. Can Cao, PhD, postdoc and first author on the paper. Many chemicals do this, from naturally occurring dopamine in the brain to caffeine and cocaine. When a chemical key enters the lock, not only does the cell “open,” but the chemical causes a chain reaction of signals inside cells. On the surface of cells sit receptor proteins you can think of as complex locks. “Also, our research team did a truly remarkable job showing precisely how chemically distinct compounds induce itching through one of two distinct receptors known to be involved in itching.” “Our work provides a template for the design of new anti-itch medications,” said Roth, the Michael Hooker Distinguished Professor of Pharmacology. Illustration of MRGPRX2 receptor structure, with naturally occurring peptide that activates it.Įver wonder what’s going on when you get itchy skin, whether from a rash or medication or some other bodily reaction? And why do some strong anti-itching medications make us nauseous, dry-mouthed zombies? Scientists at the UNC School of Medicine and the University of California at San Francisco conducted research showing in precise detail how chemicals bind to mast cells to cause itch, and the scientists figured out the detailed structure of receptor proteins on the surface of these cells when a compound is bound to those proteins. Roth, MD, PhD, Jonathan Fay, PhD, and first author, Can Cao, PhD, postdoc in the Roth Lab. The work was led by UNC School of Medicine scientists Bryan L. UNC-Chapel Hill and UC San Francisco scientists have published work in Nature, laying the groundwork for better anti-itching medications with fewer side effects.
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