Hives are red and sometimes itchy bumps on your skin. An allergic reaction to a drug or food usually causes them. Allergic reactions cause your body to release chemicals that can make your skin swell up in hives. People who have other allergies are more likely to get hives than other people. Other causes include infections and stress.

Hives (medically known as urticaria) are red, itchy, raised areas of skin that appear in varying shapes and sizes. They range in size from a few millimeters to several inches in diameter. Hives can be round, or they can form rings or large patches. Wheals (welts), red lesions with a red "flare" at the borders, are another manifestation of hives. Hives can occur anywhere on the body, such as the trunk, arms, and legs.

Hives are the body's response to allergens. They generally look like a rash or like welts on the skin and appear after exposure to an allergen to which the body is susceptible. Common allergens that cause hives include fish, milk products, nuts, food additives, flavorings, preservatives, penicillin, and aspirin. Stress, temperature extremes, pressure on the skin, and insect bites can also cause hives to appear.

Hives result from dilation of capillaries allowing fluid to leak out into the surrounding tissue, the epidermis. They resolve when the body absorbs this fluid. The border of a hive is described as polycyclic, or made up of many circles, and changes as fluid leaks out and then is absorbed. Pressing on a hive causes the skin to blanch distinguishing it from a bruise or papule.

Natural Treatment for Hives

Make a paste with 2 cups of oatmeal and 3 tablespoons of cornstarch. Add a little water to make it into a paste. Apply to affected area for 15-30 minutes. It dries the hives up within a couple of hours.

By dabbing milk of magnesia on the lesions, provides some relief. As milk of magnesia is an alkaline solution it helps in removing the irritating itchy sensation.

Make a paste with 2 cups of oatmeal and 3 tablespoons of cornstarch. Add a little water to make it into a paste. Apply to affected area for 15-30 minutes. It dries the hives up within a couple of hours.

Bath can also be used as a remedy for hives. In order to get the greatest effect, three tablespoons of cornstarch and five to six tablespoons of oatmeal should be added to the water. Sodium bicarbonate can be used to substitute for the cornstarch.

To calm your nerves (which will calm your hives), you may want to try drinking herbal tea, says Thomas Squier, president of Botanico Educational Services in Aberdeen, North Carolina, and a Cherokee herbologist. He recommends peppermint or passionflower teas. Chamomile, valerian and catnip are other common sedative herbal teas.

Oatmeal can be really useful for hives. Pour one cup of boiling water over one tablespoon oatmeal. Let it steep for thirty minutes. Strain it, and then apply the liquid on your hives with a cotton ball. This also works to relive bug bites. Refrigerate the solution and use it in a few days. You can also make this in larger amounts and put it in your bathwater (about four cups of water and four tablespoons of oatmeal).

Herbal manuals often list a poultice of the crushed leaves of chickweed as a remedy for itchy skin. Some people make a paste of water and cream of tartar and apply it to the hives, replacing it when the paste dries and gets crumbly.