Urticaria (Hives)

Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria (CSU) is often of unknown cause from a modern medical perspective, making it easy for patients to feel frustrated. Autoimmune mechanisms, Helicobacter pylori infection, thyroid autoantibodies, and food additives are being studied as indirect triggering factors. It is also common for lifestyle factors such as stress, alcohol consumption, and fatigue to exacerbate or recur symptoms. In Korean medicine, chronic urticaria is often viewed as an endogenous condition caused by Qi and blood deficiency or weakness of the spleen and stomach. When gastrointestinal function is weak and damp phlegm accumulates, wind-damp-heat rising to the skin recurs and becomes chronic. Immune-modulating effects can be expected through herbal medicines that replenish Qi and blood (herbal medicines that nourish blood, or those that nourish Qi and blood while treating the skin) and acupuncture treatment.