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What Causes Swelling On Face With Red Rashes On Body?

Posted on Fri, 23 May 2014

Question: My son is 26 years old and appears to have an allergy of some sort. His face swells up and he gets a red rash over his body. He also said his feet swelled up after a 6 mile run. My concern is that he is a binge drinker and does drink to excess at times. Although he said he didn't drink yesterday evening and went to bed early. Could this be food associated or could it be a breakdown of his liver? He is not keen to go to the doctor. He was admitted into A & E about 8 weeks ago when his whole face did swell very badly. He was given either a steroid or anti-histermin direct into his blood stream and then sent home with 7 day steroid medication.

Answered by Dr. Dr. Kakkar (12 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Urticaria/hives

Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome to healthcaremagic

I would keep a possibility of Acute Urticaria. It presents as itching and skin welts/swellings, which can be distributed all over the body.

Urticaria OR hives can occur due to various causes like(to name a few):
--Infections(bacterial , viral, fungal)
--Alcohol intake.
--Drugs(Pain killers/ antibiotics etc)
--Certain foods and food additives/preservatives
--Physical Urticaria: Cold temperature, Heat, Pressure(Prolonged Standing, Sitting), Dermaographism etc.
--Cholinergic Urticaria: in response to strong emotions, exercise, spicy food etc --Autoimmune disorders like SLE, RA etc.
--A few cases have no underlying cause and are known as idiopathic urticaria.

I would advice you to get few basic lab tests like Hemogram, stool for ova/cyst, Urine routine, Chest X-Ray.

An oral antihistamine like Fexofenadine (Allegra 180 mg tab) OR Loratadine (Alaspan 10mg tablet) once or twice daily for a week would be suitable. They are non-sedating and wont affect your alertness level.

If I was your treating doctor I would have also given you a shot of injectable antihistamines like Avil(pheniramine) and Injectable effcorlin(hydrocortisone) for rapid relief.

A topical soothing lotion like calamine would help you symptomatically.

take care
regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Dr. Kakkar (8 minutes later)

Thank you for your reply. I will add that my son has also suffered with spots of blood in his stools, this is red in colour but this has only occurred on two occasions and he does not have any associated pain. It normally disappears quickly. Can I arrange lab tests through his doctor or can I arrange this through other means?
Can stress/worry be another factor Acute Urticaria?

Thank you

Answered by Dr. Dr. Kakkar (5 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Urticaria

Detailed Answer:
Hi.

Blood in stool could be due to a local cause like Piles Or Anal fissure. You should consult a surgeon or a gastroenterologist regarding that.

Alcohol intake is one of the causes of urticaria, stress is not.

I would suggest that you get a prescription for the above drugs from your local care practitioner. It would be better to get the above mentioned tests written on his prescription.

regards

Note: Hope the answers resolves your concerns, however for further guidance of skin related queries consult our Dermatologist.Click here to book a consultation

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar