How Chinese medicine perceives the etiology of chronic urticaria

  Urticaria is a common allergic skin disease, a common limited edematous skin disease with pronounced itching due to a variety of causes. It is characterized by sudden onset, itching of the skin, bright red or pale white wind masses, sometimes more and sometimes less, sometimes hidden, and repeatedly, which do not leave traces after fading. Depending on the duration of the disease, recurrent attacks of more than 6 weeks are called chronic urticaria. In Chinese medicine, it is called “addiction rash”, “red and white wind”, and commonly known as “rubella block”. Modern medicine often uses antihistamines and hormonal drugs to treat this disease, but their effects are not ideal, and they have toxic side effects on the human body, and are easy to relapse when the drugs are discontinued, but Chinese medicine has obvious advantages in treating this disease.  The following types of treatment are available: wind-cold type, which occurs in the cold season, or when the patient is not careful to take advantage of the cold and drink cold, and is exposed to wind-cold, which attacks the skin and causes the imbalance of the camping system. The clinical manifestations of the rash is light red or light white, when the wind or cold stimulation, the skin lesions suddenly rise, when the body turns warm, the lesions gradually disappear.  Wind-heat offenses are caused by wind-heat or wind-cold evil entering the interior and turning into heat, or eating spicy, meat and fishy things that produce wind and heat. The clinical manifestation is the appearance of a flat papule like wind mass on the whole body or exposed areas, slightly higher than the skin, with red color and severe itching, aggravated by heat and relieved by cold. It may be accompanied by fever, chills, sore throat, etc.  Dampness and heat are associated with wind, dampness and heat, and the rash develops when the wind is strong and itchy and the dampness and heat are not allowed to drain under the skin. The clinical manifestations are recurrent attacks of wind masses, itching, red color, increasing in response to heat, common in young and strong people, bitter mouth, dry mouth, heavy head and body, irritable and easily irritated.  Gastrointestinal damp-heat type of this evidence is mostly due to the consumption of fish and shrimp meat and fishy hair, or diet disorder, gastrointestinal food stagnation, resulting in damp-heat accumulation in the middle Jiao gastrointestinal, fumigating the skin. The clinical manifestations are red and itchy wind masses, often accompanied by gastrointestinal symptoms, poor appetite, abdominal distension, abdominal pain, dry or loose stools, even nausea and vomiting, and general weakness.  Blood deficiency and wind dryness type of addiction rash for a long time, the pungent dispersal of wind, clearing heat and dampness, resulting in the depletion of Yin and Blood, damage to the liver and kidney, Yin deficiency and wind. The clinical manifestations of this disease are dry skin, scratch marks all over the body, desquamation, multiple rashes on the face, neck, chest and back, sudden onset and sudden disappearance of the rash, light red color, positive skin scratching sign, accompanied by headache, dizziness and irritability.  This disease is mostly caused by the Qi and blood not being able to resist the attack of evil, or the external guard not being solid, so that the evil of wind-cold, wind-heat, wind-dampness is on the surface of the muscle and develops, and at the same time, the liver and spleen produce the evil of damp-heat in the skin due to poor diet or emotional disorders.  Lung Spleen Qi deficiency type of this evidence lung spleen Qi deficiency as the root, wind evil as the standard. The clinical manifestations of this syndrome are mostly seen in the light red color of wind masses, often accompanied by symptoms of lung spleen qi deficiency such as weakness, shortness of breath, bad wind, easy to catch cold, dullness and loose stools.  The liver-depression and blood-heat type mostly attacks due to emotional discomfort and mood swings. If the liver is the master of sparing and discharging, and the master of emotion, if the worry and depression are too much, the liver qi is not sparing, the qi is depressed, the depression turns into fire and generates wind, and the wind-heat evil is generated internally, and it is in the fight with the qi and blood, then it develops into wind masses and itching. Clinical manifestations include bright red wind masses with indefinite occurrence, irritability, dizziness, tightness in the chest, discomfort in the hypochondrium, or menstrual disorders, breast swelling and pain, and bitterness in the mouth.  Chronic urticaria of the blocked vasculature type has a long duration and is difficult to heal, and the long-standing disease enters the luo, blocking the luo vasculature is the basis of the pathological changes of the disease. The blockage of the vasculature will lead to stagnation of the flow of Qi and blood and dysfunction of the internal organs of the body.  Qi and blood deficiency type of Qi and blood deficiency, Qi deficiency, then the outside of the guard loss of solid; blood deficiency, then the production of wind and dryness, skin loss of nourishment; Qi and blood deficiency, couples are not dense, wind evil take advantage of the deficiency and the onset. The clinical manifestations are recurrent attacks of wind masses, which are difficult to heal, aggravated at night or during exertion, weakness of the body or weakness of the limbs, and lack of nails on the lips.