Skin conditions can be painless or may generate pains; some are permanent while a few are temporary. There are multiple reasons for skin conditions to show up. A few are caused due to genetic factors while others may occur owing to situational / environmental reasons. Conditions that may cause irritation or itchiness are experienced when your skin is exposed to allergens. Rashes and hives are commonly encountered skin conditions. What are the differences between these two? It is worth your while to have more details of these two conditions.
You need to know skin protects by covering the surface of your body. Skin also helps retain fluids of your system and thus prevents spells of dehydration, also protects from microbial infections, controls temperature as well as helps produce vitamins (such as D) from sunlight, etc.
What are rashes?
This is an irritated part of your skin. Rashes show up as bumps that are of smaller size, accompanied by reddening of skin and itchiness. When your scratch it hard, it may lead to breakage of skin. Owing to this you may also encounter blisters of many types.
Rash is often an outcome of a clinical disorder. The typical triggers for rashes to occur are exposure to harmful chemicals such as pesticides or to allergens, wasp bites or intake of drugs such as sulfa meds / amoxicillin, etc. In some cases, infections caused by growth of microbes, coming in touch with a few types of plants like poison ivy, too much exposure to sun’s rays and skin-based disorders like psoriasis are also possible reasons for the onset of rashes.
What are hives?
Hives are a form of rash; these typically show up as reddish bumps. These are known to occur all of a sudden without much signs. These bumpy spots are also known as welts or wheals. These are often shaped in irregular forms or, at times, as circular spots. Their sizes also vary – from being a large sized map to a tiny dot on your skin.
You may get hives at any part of your body – say, lips, ears, face, etc. Another condition called angioedema is often confused with hives. In case of former, inflammation is more deep and goes into the skin i.e., not on the surface. It is a misconception to link onset of hives with allergens. Though such exposure is one of the likely causes, there are many other factors that may trigger incidence of hives. These are consumption of foods such as fish, dairy produce, eggs, some forms of berries, nuts, tomatoes, chocolate, etc. Uncooked (i.e., fresh) food is more known to trigger hives than fully cooked food.
What are the key differences between skin conditions rashes and hives?
The main difference is hives appear as raised or bumpy spots on skin. Rashes – on the other hand – occur as an altered texture or color of your skin. Rashes do not show up raised, itchy spots. However, rashes do make your skin appear cracked or a scaly formation. Color of hives may be the same as your skin or may turn your skin red. Both these conditions may occur all over body or on a specific part of the part.
The itchy nature of hives is a distinctive differentiator; the level of itchiness may vary from being short-lived to persisting for a longer duration. Also, the onset of hives is in a cluster. As a precursor, you are likely to witness skin-based discomforts (like intensive spells of itchiness) prior to the formation of bumps. If left untreated, these clusters may merge and may lead to large section of your skin turning itchy. Upon sensing any of the abovementioned discomforts, it is a good practice to talk to a skin doctor without much delay.
Education: Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) from New York University. Experience: 5 years of experience writing for physiotherapy and sports medicine blogs, providing expert insights on injury prevention and rehabilitation.
