Hives, also known as Urticaria, look like red bumps that appear on certain portions of your skin. They can be itchy and may cause a burning sensation. They appear due to an allergic reaction on the skin caused by several allergens. When your cells release histamine, hives appear on your skin as a reaction. If you are allergic to pollen, dust, shellfish, etc., an allergic reaction is triggered, which results in hives. They would appear for a certain period of time and disappear on their own. However, until they disappear, you may tend to feel irritated. Listed below are a few home remedies to treat hives.

Take a bath in cold water
Taking a bath in cold water or applying ice packs can be helpful in reducing the inflammation and itching. Never apply hot water to the affected areas as the problem will get aggravated. When you are exposed to cold water, your blood vessels contract, thereby stopping any further release of histamine. The moment the histamine stops being released, your hives will subside gradually.

Apply calamine lotion
To treat hives at home, you can apply some calamine in the affected regions by dabbing the welts in the lotion. Calamine also functions like cold water. It shrinks the blood vessels so that histamine is not released anymore.

Apply a paste of baking soda
Mix little baking soda in a cup of water and make a paste. The water must be cold. Apply the paste of baking soda gently over the red bumps on your skin. This will relieve you to a great extent from the burning sensation and itching, thereby helping you treat hives. The paste of baking soda will also stop new hives to pop out at that time.

Apply witch hazel
When hives pop out on your skin, apply witch hazel twice or thrice a day, depending on the severity of the hives. This will provide you some much-needed relief from itching. Witch hazel has anti-oxidant compounds and astringent characters, due to which it is very useful in healing your skin.

Take supplements
Some supplements are widely used to treat hives. Among those supplements, the most widely used ones are quercetin and evening primrose. They will help you get rid of those hives much faster than any other remedy. Quercetin is a type of flavonoid. It has anti-histamine and anti-inflammatory properties. Research has proved that Quercetin stops any further production of histamine, thus helping one to get rid of hives. Some other supplements include fish oil and vitamin B12. You can take the fish oil capsule about three times a day to prevent hives.

Apply cream of tartar
Cream of tartar is very effective against hives. But do not apply it directly. Make a paste and then apply it on the affected area to notice a marked improvement.

Apply milk of magnesia
Milk of Magnesia is well known to lessen any rashes, itchy feeling or inflammation of the skin caused due to allergic reactions. They help to relieve itching because of their alkaline nature.