Hives

Hives

Many years ago, my son, John, now in his thirties, had a bout of hives. John had been digging in the garden, so his hives could have come from an allergy to one or more of the hundreds of plants in my garden. Or maybe he was allergic to one of the animals that called our place home--cats, chickens, goats, horses and rabbits, not to mention some rather social raccoons, deer, foxes, groundhogs and possums.

Hives bothered John on and off for about a year, then as he grew beyond his teens, his hives disappeared, never to return.

We never figured out what caused John's hives. They were never bad enough for us to consult an expensive allergy specialist, and it was probably just as well. Beyond a few common allergies, it's often very difficult for even the pros to determine what triggers hives.

Whenever the hives put in an appearance, we gave John some diphenhydramine (Benadryl), the synthetic over-the-counter antihistamine, instead of herbal antihistamines. Today I'd go the herbal route, but John had his hives before I became completely converted to natural medicines.

How Hives Happen

Hives are itchy red skin welts with whitish centers. Medically, they're known as urticaria or nettle rash, a name inspired by the fact that the stinging nettle plant can cause them.

Hives are a reaction to histamine, a substance secreted by special cells known as mast cells that are distributed throughout the body. Small amounts of histamine, incidentally, are also injected into you when you bump up against the tiny hairs that cover the stinging nettle plant.

The histamine made by your body plays a role in producing the symptoms of hay fever­type allergies, including sneezing and watery eyes. That's why antihistamines, substances that block the natural action of histamines, can help to treat so many allergy symptoms, including hives.

Some 15 to 20 percent of Americans experience hives at some point in their lives, most frequently as young adults.

Just about anything that can cause an allergic reaction can cause hives, including certain foods, aspirin and many other drugs. Sometimes unexpected things cause hives; about 3 percent of people who use sunscreen get hives, for example. But in many cases, the cause of hives remains a mystery.

Green Pharmacy for Hives

Prescription and over-the-counter antihistamines are the standard medical treatment for hives. There are also a number of herbal approaches.

Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis). This is one of my favorite herbs for hives. It contains a compound called lawsone that works wonders.

I learned about lawsone's anti-hive action at the 1995 Annual Spring Wildflower Outing in Wintergreen, Virginia. My long-time friend, herbalist Jim Troy, slapped both of my wrists with nettle plant until both stung mightily. I had with me a bottled solution of lawsone which Robert Rosen, Ph.D., a chemist at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, had provided. I rubbed the solution onto my right wrist and enjoyed instant relief. The hives on my left wrist kept right on itching. This mini-experiment convinced me that any plant containing the compound lawsone, such as jewelweed, is worth considering as a treatment for hives.

In fact, several of the participants in that wildflower walk tried crushed jewelweed leaves on their nettle-produced hives with good results. Until something better comes along, I will heartily endorse jewelweed for the wheals induced by stinging nettle, and I'd recommend trying it on hives produced by other causes as well.

I'll never know whether a topical application of jewelweed would have helped my son's hives, but you can bet I'll try it on myself if I ever have the same problem.

If you'd like to try this remedy, you'll have to have access to fresh jewelweed, which is fairly common throughout the country. If you aren't sure what jewelweed looks like, you should find someone in your area who can show you the plant--a local herbalist, perhaps, or an agricultural extension agent.

stinging nettle (Urtica dioica). Yes, I'm talking about the very same plant that will produce a wheal if its hairs inject their histamine into you. Andrew Weil, M.D., an herb advocate who teaches at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson and author of Natural Health, Natural Medicine, suggests using freeze-dried nettle leaf extract to treat hives and allergies. This might sound illogical, but the plant apparently doesn't contain enough histamine to be a problem when it's taken orally, and it does contain substances that help heal hives.

stinging nettle is sold in capsules in health food stores. Dr. Weil suggests taking one or two every two to four hours, as needed.

I have a menacing stand of stinging nettle back behind the barn, so I'd personally opt for consumption of a tea made from the leaves or cooked greens. You'll need to wear gloves when harvesting the greens, but the stinging hairs lose their sting when the plant is cooked, and the greens are delicious. stinging nettle is a fairly common "weed" throughout the country, so you may have access to the fresh herb.

More recent studies suggest that the root may be even more beneficial than the leaves. Capsules of root material are not yet available, but if you can get the fresh herb, try hanging some roots to dry, then making a tea from some dried, chopped root.

Natural antihistamines. What doctors don't say--because they generally don't know--is that many plants contain antihistamine compounds.

My database is full of these plants: Camomile and wild oregano have at least seven different antihistaminic chemicals, and rue has six. Weighing in with five we have basil, echinacea, fennel, fig, ginkgo, grapefruit, passionflower, tarragon, tea, thyme and yarrow.

Some herbal experts warn that camomile can cause histaminic allergic
reactions. That may be so in some very sensitive people, but here are the antihistamine compounds in this herb: apigenin, isorhamnetin, kaempferol, luteolin, quercetin, rutin and umbelliferone. This set of compounds is a good reason to give this herb a try. If it doesn't help, or if it seems to make the hives worse, simply discontinue use.

For the greatest variety of antihistamine compounds, my computer suggests making a tea with a combination of several antihistamine herbs, including basil, camomile, fennel, oregano, tarragon and tea. (Just to clear up any possible confusion here, I'm talking about making a brew using the herbal method of preparing tea and including in it a typical beverage tea.)

I suggest pouring a few cups of tea made from this herbal mixture into your bath or dipping a clean cloth into it and applying it as a compress. You can also drink it as a beverage, because the antihistamines will work inside your body as well as on the outside.

If this tea helps, respect it and use it. If it doesn't seem to help, reject it. All of these herbs, however, are generally regarded as safe.

papaya (Petroselinum crispum). One scientific study showed that papaya inhibits the secretion of histamine. If you have hives, try juicing some papaya and adding it to some other vegetable juice, such as carrot or tomato, to make it more palatable.

Amaranth (Amaranthus, various species). A tea made with amaranth seeds makes a good wash for hives, eczema and psoriasis, according to the widely traveled medical anthropologist John Heinerman, Ph.D., author of Heinerman's Encyclopedia of Fruits, Vegetables and Herbs and many other books relating to healing with herbs and foods. To make this tea, add two teaspoons of amaranth seeds to three cups of boiling water and let it steep for 10 to 20 minutes. If I were treating my own hives, I'd add some jewelweed, too.

Ginger (Zingiber officinale). When Canadian herbalist Terry Willard, president of the Canadian Association of Herbal Practitioners and author of Textbook of Modern Herbology, developed hives as a result of a food allergy, he simmered a half-pound of ginger in a gallon of water in a big pot for five minutes and added the resulting brew to a hot bath. After steeping himself for a while, he sponged off with camomile tea (one teaspoon in one cup of boiling water). "It worked every time," he says.

Assorted essential oils. Aromatherapists suggest using camomile oil to treat hives, and I agree: Place a drop or two directly on your hives and massage it in. Speaking of essential oils, the oils of caraway, clove and lemon balm (also known as melissa) are all antihistaminic, according to pharmacognosist (natural product pharmacist) Albert Leung, Ph.D. Mixing a few drops of each of these oils into a couple of ounces of vegetable oil will result in a soothing ointment that might help relieve itching. Just remember not to ingest essential oils, as even a small amount may be toxic.

Assorted herbs. Some herbalists suggest drinking valerian tea for
relief of hives that are brought on by anxiety or stress, as valerian is a good natural sedative. Others suggest applying aloe gel to soothe the wheals.

For intensely itchy hives, try a few handfuls of oatmeal in a warm bath. It works surprisingly well.

Cornmint or peppermint, taken as a tea or a wash, might help in treating hives. Menthol, one of the ingredients in mints, has been shown to have itch-relieving action.