In a rare medical case, a girl suddenly started developing hives whenever she was exposed to water.
A Canadian teenager was sent to a clinic due to recurring outbreaks of hives, which appeared whenever her skin came into contact with water. She had hives and the inflamed bumps were surrounded by patches of red skin about 1 to 3 centimeters wide.
The patient told doctors that her first outbreak of hives in response to water occurred about two years earlier, shortly after her period began. From there, whenever your skin got wet — regardless of the water temperature or type of water — welts appeared.
The young woman developed hives within 20 minutes of taking a shower, swimming in pools or the sea and even after being drenched in the rain. The hives and redness would then disappear without any treatment after about 30 to 60 minutes. In turn, sweat or tears on her skin did not trigger symptoms.
As you write, hives are typically triggered by an allergic reaction to something the affected person has touched or ingested. When the allergen enters the body, immune cells release a chemical called histamine which triggers an immune response that can include itchy hives.
In this case, in the Diagnostic Dilemma archivesthere was no history of unexplained urticaria in the patient’s family, nor did the young woman report other symptoms that sometimes accompany allergic reactions, such as dizziness, wheezing or shortness of breath.
Laboratory tests on the patient’s blood and urine showed that all of her vital functions were within normal ranges.
She was allergic to dust, rabbits, and cats, but these known allergens did not coincide with her episodes of hives following water exposure.
Rare condition in question
After several investigations and treatment attempts, doctors diagnosed her with aquagenic urticaria — a rare allergy to water.
Doctors prescribed a daily dose of the antihistamine cetirizine, which works to cause hives and a range of other allergic symptoms, such as sneezing and itchy eyes, nose and throat.
At a follow-up appointment eight months later, the patient reported that her Symptoms only returned if I missed a dose of antihistamine.
14 months later, the user said that she was able to participate in normal daily activities “without restrictions” and that her quality of life was life was not affected due to allergy as long as you continue to take cetirizine.
As Live Science writes, To date, science has described only 100 cases of aquagenic urticaria. Its cause is unknown, although the condition usually emerges at the onset of puberty and is thought to affect women more often than men.
