HEAT HIVES

As summer is coming up fast, I am so excited for the pool days, volleyball, and the fun summer brings. One thing I am not excited about is heat hives. Over the last few months, I have had some little bumps come up every once in a while. The first time I had them come up was after I went outside in the snow. I thought I was having a reaction to the snow but then the bumps came up when I was sitting outside in the sun. This is not an official diagnosis, that is why I am calling it heat hives instead of the actual name, Cholinergic urticaria. Heat hives often occurs when you are exercising, being in a warm room, being in the sun or sweating, being angry or upset, and being nervous or anxious. The weird thing about heat hives is that they don't occur every time one of these situations happens. Sometimes, I am totally fine, even when I am hot and sweaty. Other times, it just shows up without me even realizing it at first. This picture is of when I was sitting out in the sun.

They are literally just itchy, red bumps. I am so thankful for the progress I've made with my eczema over the past two years but it does suck to now have to take into consideration heat hives when I go be active. There is no cure for heat hives so the best way to get them to go away is to try and stop doing whatever trigger you are doing in the moment. Also applying cooling creams to it should help it go away faster.

Although this is a little bit of a setback for me, I know it isn't the end of the world. If I have learned anything from my eczema experience is that the outside doesn't matter to people as much as the inside. If I work on my personality and being nice to everyone I meet, people will be drawn to me and not my appearance.

My goal this summer is to enjoy my summer and be bold. I am not the most adventurous person but I don't want to be like that anymore. I want to try new things and not let my fear or eczema stand in the way of that.

JATS