A frequent topic at the clinic, hives affect so many lives in today’s world, and there are so many of them left frustrated at the persistency of the condition. There are people who have lived with hives for varying periods of time ranging up to ten plus years. Uses of anti-histamine either topically or internally, which have grown to be common practice, help relieving the symptoms. The problem with just anti-histamine treatment is that it is difficult to get rid of hives completely. Hives, or hypersensitivity, among other skin disorders, is hard to treat, which is the very reason why people live with it for so many years despite trying variety of treatment.

Causative factors can be vary – stress, cold, hot, food, weather, scratching, tiredness, exposure to sun, lack of sleep, and also no apparent reason at all. Chinese Medicine tells us that hives flare up with disorders in internal organs, even though medical tests do not reveal any abnormality. It could be any organ in the system – liver, spleen, stomach, lung, etc. Disorders in organs can be physiological, emotional, or both.

While it is difficult to treat hives, especially when it becomes chronic, it can be treated with correct diagnosis and treatment accordingly. Since hives are likely to be a chronic condition, Chinese herbs along with acupuncture is strongly recommended.

Hives is an outward symptom of disorders in internal organs, but the problematic organ differs person to person, even though the visible symptoms are the same. Quite naturally, the acupuncture and herbal treatments differ for individuals. It is important that patients see an acupuncturist to diagnose exactly which internal organ is suffering from disorders that caused the symptoms. Acupuncture, along with Chinese herbal medicine, addresses the fundamental health issues by treating the internal organs, rather than focus solely on the outward symptoms.