Cold allergy: how do you recognise and treat it?

Around one in two thousand people has an allergic reaction to cold. In HLN, Dr Griet Voet explains how this condition presents.

On contact with cold, or when warming up afterwards, red, itchy weals appear that usually disappear within a few hours. When the whole body is exposed, for instance when swimming in cold water, general symptoms can also occur. The cause is a release of histamine by certain immune cells in the skin; why this happens is usually unknown. Dr Voet distinguishes it from ordinary dry winter skin, which does not cause swelling or weals.

The diagnosis is made using, among other things, an ice cube test. Antihistamines, warm clothing and avoiding the cold help most patients limit their symptoms; in some, the condition disappears on its own after a few years.

• Keep track of the circumstances in which the weals appear.

• Dress warmly and avoid sudden changes to cold.

• Antihistamines can be taken preventively, in consultation with your doctor.

Want to know more? Read about Allergies and eczema at Clinique Dermatologie Gent.