Urticaria: Natural Treatment + Prevention

Natural Treatment for Hives

The itchy red welts known as urticaria, or hives, are a common bodily reaction to either allergen stimuli or chronic underlying health issues. They can affect anyone, and can have a negative impact on daily life. TCM tries to identify the underlying health conditions that cause hives, and offers natural treatments like diet changes, herbs, and lifestyle practices to help ease the unpleasant symptoms. In Western medicine, hives are most commonly treated with an antihistamine, sometimes accompanied by a corticosteroid if the antihistamine causes symptoms like fatigue, headache, or drowsiness. If that doesn’t work, then immunosuppressants may be prescribed. This treatment plan treats all hives as an allergy, whereas TCM attempts to dig deeper and understand the root cause of the hives by looking at the patient’s overall health. The strength and health of the patient’s Wei Qi, or protective defenses, like the lungs and skin, are observed to see which external pathogenic factors have taken root in the body. Wind and heat are two common types of factors that cause acute and chronic hives, and treating the symptoms associated with these factors can eliminate the body’s stress response that produces hives.

Types of Hives

Acute Urticaria:
Acute hives are an immediate reaction to allergens introduced to the body through ingestion or skin contact. Immune cells in the skin called mast cells react by releasing histamine, creating welt-like hives. They manifest as raised welts that can suddenly appear anywhere on your body. The welts are typically red, but white in the center if pressed, are persistently itchy, and are often accompanied by painful swelling around the eyes, lips, and throat. It is not uncommon for the cause of these hives to be unidentifiable, making them difficult to manage and treat.

Triggers: Foods like nuts, shellfish, and some fruits, medications like antibiotics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or pain relievers, environmental factors like sun exposure, heat, cold, pollen, animal dander, or latex, and physical factors like stress, infections, or tight clothing.

Chronic Urticaria:
Chronic hives can last longer than six weeks and are not triggered by discernable allergen factors, making identifying the cause more difficult. While chronic hives share many similarities with acute hives, like itchiness and raised red welts, they differ in persistence and impact. These hives reappear frequently over months or years, they can change size and shape, they move around to different parts of the body, and can flare up due to heat, stress, or physical activity, complicating daily life. Acute hives are a result of external environmental factors, whereas chronic hives tend to be the result of internal health imbalances.

Triggers:
An autoimmune response that causes the body’s immune system to attack healthy tissue believing it to be harmful, chronic infections like bacterial or viral can underlie persistent hives, underlying health conditions like thyroid disease or lupus, or idiopathic causes which are spontaneous hives with no identifiable cause.

Pathogenic Factors
The concept of Wei Qi refers to the body’s protective defenses, which stem mainly from the lungs and skin. When Wei Qi is weakened, pathogenic factors enter the body, causing illness. Wind and Heat are common factors that contribute to the presence of hives. Hives are recognized as the body’s way of releasing built up wind or heat stagnation through the skin, seeking to restore balance. While uncomfortable, the presence of hives can actually indicate deeper inner healing is occurring.

Wind Heat/Wind Cold:
Wind heat hives are acute, meaning they come and go, as if blown by the wind. They are often itchy, and correspond to a triggered immune response to stress, allergens, or temperature changes. They may be accompanied by a fever or sore throat. Wind cold hives are pale pink welts that get worse with exposure to cold, accompanied by chills. Treatment focuses on expelling wind, clearing heat in wind heat cases, or warming in wind cold cases, and restoring balance between Wei Qi and the skin.

Blood Heat/Stagnation:
Blood heat hives are red, warm, and inflamed, reflecting internal stress and stagnation. If there is too much inflammation in the body, any exposure to allergens or triggers overwhelms the body, resulting in a breakout. Liver stagnation can build up when the body is under prolonged stress, preventing the body from processing minor irritants. When overtaxed, the liver and kidneys struggle to filter toxins out of the body, so the body will try to expel excess heat through the skin, resulting in hives. Treatment focuses on nourishing the blood, expelling wind, draining dampness, and bringing the internal organs into balance. Clearing stagnation, circulating blood, and restoring Qi helps reduce flare-ups because the body does not have to work so hard to properly process internal and external irritants.

Remedies

Diet:
To calm an overactive immune response, reduce inflammation, and support the immune system, eat foods that are cooling and detoxifying. Add in fresh fruits and vegetables, especially those with a high water content, like watermelon and cucumber. Try to avoid spicy or greasy foods that may heat your body and exacerbate symptoms. Herbal teas like chamomile and peppermint soothe the system. Drink plenty of water to eliminate dryness within the body. Eat plenty of anti-inflammatory foods like leafy greens, berries, omega-3 rich fish

• Wind-Heat: cucumber, watermelon, chrysanthemum tea
  

• Damp-Heat: adzuki beans, job's tears (yi yi ren), pumpkin
  

• Blood Heat: celery, mung beans, white fungus
  

Acupuncture:
The practice of acupuncture is a gentle but powerful therapy that restores balance to the body by circulating Qi and clearing stagnation. This practice increases blood circulation, releases muscle tension, calms the nervous system, relieves pain and inflammation, promotes better sleep, aids digestion, improves mood, and boosts overall vitality. The clearing of stagnation allows the body to better process any irritants or allergens that may stress the body, preventing the formation of hives. To treat hives, the specific points that are stimulated clear heat and cool the blood, and expel external wind and heat to boost the Wei Qi by supporting the immune system. Cupping is also helpful in treating hives because it exfoliates the skin, draws out toxins, and cools down an outbreak. Acupuncture and cupping are often paired with herbs to strengthen the lungs and the liver, which strengthen the Wei Qi.

Practices to relieve and prevent hives:
It is important to recognize your personal triggers and minimize exposure. This may look like changing your diet, reducing stress, practicing yoga and mindfulness, and paying attention to the weather and how it could affect your skin. Choose clothing that does not irritate your skin, avoid food allergens, and use organic, fragrance free skin care products that are gentle on your skin. Adapt to the seasons; in winter, the body is meant to experience cold, but instead people keep their heat on all season, creating a consistently warm environment. This leads to dry air, causing people without any allergies to feel itchy and dry.

Another common practice in the winter is to take long, hot showers that can actually destroy the skin’s protective layers, causing it to be raw and easily irritated. To avoid this, take shorter showers that are warm instead of hot, and allow some exposure to the cold without catching a chill. Walking keeps your blood circulating while also reducing stress, and quality sleep is essential to rebuild Wei Qi.

Hives are uncomfortable, but preventable if you understand the root cause and treat them accordingly. Learn your triggers, whether they are environmental like cold or hot weather, or internal, like blood or liver stagnation. Their longevity is a sign of their cause, and the first step in creating a customized treatment plan. Try acupuncture to clear wind and heat, and support your body with proper diet, rest, and relaxation. Hives are a sign of an overtaxed system, so relief comes from bolstering Wei Qi and restoring harmony.

Resources

● https://enokclinic.com/blog/tcm-hives-understanding-and-managing-hives-with-traditional-chinese-medicine/

● https://sieam.edu/research-blog/2020/1/20/urticaria

● https://eraneven.com/2011/06/30/two-cases-of-wind-rash-urticaria/

● https://www.petersheng.com/hives/

● https://tangsclinical.com/blog/understanding-two-different-types-of-hives-from-a-tcm-perspective-acute-vs-chronic/

● https://myartofwellness.com/how-to-treat-hives-with-acupuncture-and-tcm/

● https://olakinohealthcenter.com/blog/---calming-overactive-immune-responses--traditional-chinese-medicine-insights-on-rashes-and-hivese

● https://www.entandallergy.com/blog/2026/march/cold-and-heat-urticaria-what-triggers-

Activating the Ear: Auricular Acupuncture

Auricular acupuncture is the practice of stimulating specific points along the outer ear, and is viewed as a full body approach to healing. Commonly used to treat insomnia, anxiety, stress, or addiction, regulate the nervous system, and support bodily functions, it is a non-invasive and gentle treatment that offers numerous benefits. Each point is believed to be connected by nerves and reflex pathways to different parts of the body, like the head, heart, spine, liver, stomach, and practitioners will use fine needles, tiny metal balls, ear seeds, or gentle electrostimulation as techniques to treat a patient’s specific needs. This acupuncture technique is gaining popularity in both Eastern and Western health traditions by combining the knowledge of traditional ear mapping with modern neural connections.

Source: TCMstudent.com

How it Works
Cranial nerves like the vagus nerve, trigeminal nerve, and facial nerve all have branches that reach the outer ear, and when they are stimulated, parts of the brain that regulate mood, stress, pain perception, and bodily regulation are stimulated. Stimulating points on the ear sends neurological signals through the nervous system, switching into a parasympathetic state, which promotes rest and relaxation. Endorphins are released that reduce pain and discomfort, and enhance feelings of well being. Released neurotransmitters and hormones regulate mood, sleep, and appetite, and stimulation of the vagus nerve balances heart rate, digestion, and inflammation.

Physical and Mental Ailments
Auricular acupuncture is beneficial for individuals seeking a natural treatment with minimal side effects, those healing from trauma, grief, or addiction, those experiencing chronic tension or burnout from a high stress lifestyle, or those with hormonal imbalances.

● Stimulating the musculoskeletal points relieves inflammation that causes back pain, sciatica, or joint discomfort

● Treats migraines and tension headaches

● Eases symptoms like bloating, gas, or sluggish digestion

● By shifting and balancing hormones, symptoms of menstruation and menopause are lessened

● Stimulating facial nerve points releases jaw clenching and treats TMJ

● Certain ear points reduce the fight-or-flight response, easing feelings of anxiety and panic attacks, and encourages relaxation

● Feelings of depression and low mood can be eased by balancing serotonin levels

● Physical aid for processing and regulating emotions

Benefits

● Relief from chronic and acute back, joint, or muscular pain

● Reduced anxiety and stress

● Improved, more restorative sleep

● Enhanced focus and mental clarity, reduced brain fog

● Support through addiction or withdrawal by easing cravings during recovery

● Regulates digestion and metabolism, aiding in weight loss and management

● Increased blood flow and circulation

Home Practice
Stimulation of auricular points can be self administered at home through the use of ear seeds and an ear acupressure point chart. Ear seeds are tiny balls made of either a plant called vaccaria or metal, and are adhered to ear acupressure points with tape. They are then gently pressed throughout the day to stimulate the points, and are often used after an acupuncture session to prolong the healing effects. More accessible points to reach include the Ear Shen Men, which calms the mind, eases anxiety, aids in better sleep, and lessens stress, and Point Zero, which balances the body’s energies.

Whether applied with needles or ear seeds, stimulation of points along the outer ear can provide immense relief from physical, mental, and emotional ailments. TCM teaches that pressure points connect the body through nerve pathways, and activation of certain points can bring your body back to balance. With a detailed chart or with a practitioner’s help, this practice is accessible to anyone and can be self administered.

References

● https://burlingtonacupuncture.com/health-well-news/auricular-acupuncture-what-it-is-and-why-is-everyone-talking-about-it/

● https://acaacupuncture.com/auricular-ear-acupuncture-what-it-treats-how-it-works-and-who-its-for/

● https://www.emmaquine.com/auricular-acupuncture

● https://www.alldeepmassage.com/ow-give-yourself-ear-acupressure/

Cold Hands and Feet: A Chinese Medicine Guide to Better Circulation

While having cold hands and feet is a normal physical response to a cold environment, TCM teaches that persistently cold hands and feet are symptoms that may point to deeper health issues resulting from Qi, Yang, and Yin deficiencies. Too much cooling Yin and not enough warming Yang results in cold extremities. Restoring Yin Yang balance through proper diet, exercise, and TCM practices like acupuncture and medicinal herbs will help circulate blood through the body properly, warming chronically cold hands and feet.

Causes

Qi Deficiency:
The health and quality of Qi, which is the energy of all life, is very important in TCM. If there is Qi stagnation, or insufficient Qi, symptoms like cold extremities may manifest. Without the body’s normal energy flow, its ability to generate warmth diminishes, leading to lack of warmth in the hands and feet. Qi stagnation can be caused by stress, poor eating habits, and a sedentary lifestyle.

Blood Stagnation:
If you experience blood stagnation, it can lead to poor circulation, causing cold hands, chest pain, and feelings of oppression. In TCM, blood stasis is the concept that blood flow in the body is not as smooth as it should be, leading to various health issues like cold hands, pain, bruises, and a purple complexion. Good health relies on the smooth, robust flow of blood, so when it is stuck, it leads to discomfort. In order to correct the Qi deficit, it is necessary to incorporate mindfulness, appropriate rest and nourishing diets.

Yang Deficiency:
A Yang deficiency presents as fatigue, chills, and a pale face, resulting from a deficiency in the body’s warming energy. Yang is responsible for transforming and transporting Qi throughout the body. It is the warming principle that counterbalances Yin;s cooling and contracting nature. This harmony is essential for optimal bodily function. Chronic illness, ageing, overexertion, overeating of cold and raw foods, chronic stress, and prolonged exposure to a cold environment causes a Yang efficiency, with cold hands and feet being a noticeable symptom of the body’s inability to circulate warmth. Common symptoms of a Yang deficiency include chronic fatigue, sensitivity to cold, nasal congestion, continuous sneezing, abdominal pain, menstrual cramps and blood clots, and digestive issues.

Excessive Yin:
Yin and Yang need to be in harmony for the body to function at its best. While Yang is responsible for dispersing Qi and warmth throughout the body and limbs, Yin conveys that energy to the organs, and is cooling. If Yin and Yang are in disharmony, they can not connect, causing an inability to circulate energy through the body. This disconnect is called jue, and may result from meridian obstruction or insufficient Yang energy caused by Qi stagnation, blood stasis, and indigestion. An excess of Yin in the body results in cold hands and feet, because there is not enough Yang energy to keep the extremities warm, and the feet are farthest from the heart.

Remedies

Food: To treat a Yang deficiency, avoid consumption of cold or raw foods like salads, raw fruit, or milk. Do eat warm foods like cayenne, walnuts, pistachios, chestnuts, onion, garlic, mutton, leeks, cinnamon, mugwort leaves, jujube tea, and ginger, and medicinal herbs like cinnamon, clove, ginger, nutmeg. To treat blood stagnation, eat foods like apricots, cherries, red grapes, beets, beef, eggs, figs, dates, parsley, dark leafy greens. Include sulphur-rich foods like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, and brussel sprouts, leafy greens, lentils, chickpeas, and walnuts for enhanced blood flow.

Foot Soak: Soak your feet in warm water for 15 minutes before bed, or sleep with a hot water bottle at the foot of your bed. Add mugwort leaves, ginger, or prickly ash for extra warmth.

Layering: Being cold can exacerbate Yang and Qi deficiencies, so layering and staying warm can help aid the body’s efforts to circulate blood and warm the extremities.

Exercise: A sedentary lifestyle encourages blood stagnation, so exercises like jogging, tai chi, walking, yoga, swimming, and other aerobic activities that do not cause overexertion are ideal for circulating blood throughout the body. Overexertion causes sweating, resulting in Yang depletion.

Acupuncture: By stimulating specific points along the body’s meridians, Qi and blood stagnation can be relieved. Activation of certain points, especially along the Kidney and Spleen meridians, circulates blood, restores warmth, increases Qi, and restores warmth to the hands and feet.

Cold hands and feet are strong indicators of an imbalance in the body’s Yin Yang relationship. Harmony can be restored through proper diet, exercises that are not excessively draining, foot soaks, warm clothes, and various TCM practices like acupuncture and medicinal herbs.

Supporting the body’s ability to circulate blood is the key to warming chronically cold hands and feet.

Resources

● https://www.commontcm.sg/chronic-illness/tcm-treatment-cold-hands-and-feet

● https://www.yongkangtcm.com/post/chinese-medicine-and-cold-extremities

● https://www.shanghaimedicalclinic.com/cold-hands-and-feet-what-to-do/

● https://sgpaincaretcm.com/understanding-cold-feet-traditional-chinese-medicine-approach/