Even tears cause allergies! What Causes Aquagenic Hives?

Pollen allergies, dust mites, food, medicines… Everyone has at least one person with allergies around them. Some allergies are very common, but there are others that are little talked about. One is aquagenic hives (urticaria), a water allergy.

Aquagenic urticaria is a rare form of allergy to water, regardless of temperature. This allergy was first diagnosed in 1964 and is more common in women. Aquagenic urticaria, also known as water-related hives, is a rare condition that occurs after contact with water, shows signs of redness, itching, blisters on the skin, and causes an allergic reaction.

People with this disease often avoid taking a bath, swimming in the pool, and even washing their hands and face to prevent seizures. This difficult period can sometimes even cause psychological problems.

Although genetic factors are rarely among the causes of the disease, an unhealthy lifestyle, prolonged consumption of fast food and packaged products, stress, use of chlorine in swimming pools and some medications cause the formation of aquagenic hives and increase the likelihood of its occurrence.

A 14-year-old teenage girl diagnosed with aquagenic urticaria describes allergy in these words: “Every time I shower, wash my hands or even sweat, my skin reacts. It hurts so much I start to cry in pain, but if I do it will only make it worse, because I’m allergic to my tears myself.”

Although there is no known definitive treatment, it is recommended to eliminate the condition causing the allergy in treatment, but this is quite difficult if the cause is water. For this reason, allergy-suppressing drug treatment is applied to people suffering from aquagenic hives, while the transition to a healthy diet reduces the course of the disease and accelerates the healing process. Dietitian Bilgen Tanyel explained how to feed people with aquagenic hives.

Dietitian Bilgen Tanyel says: “While it is believed that it is beneficial to stay away from fast food and packaged products, to eat healthy foods and to use clean drinking water instead of tap water, it cannot be said to be a definitive solution. treatment method.”

The causes of this very specific allergy are unknown and there is currently no cure. A recent study shows that the use of topical treatments also has a controversial effect. Some experts believe that the skin of people experiencing aquagenic urticaria may contain certain ingredients that could trigger the reaction.

Due to the rarity of this type of urticaria, there is very little documentation on the subject. According to some scientific studies, about 50 people worldwide experience aquagenic uritis.