Urticaria: contact urticaria

LAST UPDATED: Aug 02, 2021

Introduction

Contact urticaria is an immediate and transient, localised swelling and redness of the skin that occurs after direct contact with an offending substance.

This chapter is set out as follows:

Aetiology
History
Images
Management

Aetiology

It can be both non-immunological eg nettle rash, and immunological eg food, latex, plants or animal hair / fur

History

Latex allergy - refer to the related chapter Contact allergic dermatitis (including latex and rubber allergy)
Other contact eg food - symptoms include a tingling sensation, peri-oral flare and swelling of the lips, tongue and soft palate. The offending allergen is normally obvious as symptoms often occur within a few minutes of contact with the food. Refer to the related chapter Food allergy for more information. If the cause of any oral symptoms is less clear and the symptoms persist it is worth referring to a dermatologist to rule out other causes such as a contact allergic dermatitis to toothpaste or amalgam in fillings (the latter can cause facial swelling in some cases)

Clinical Images

Please refer to notes on image rights at bottom of the page with regards to individual image ownership.

$Latex allergy$

Management

Refer to the section on history

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Image Rights - The PCDS would like to thank Dermatoweb, DermQuest (Galderma), and others who have contributed images. All named individuals and organisations maintain copyright for the relevant images.