Allergic to the cold? REALLY?

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

My 3 year old has been having this strange reaction lately.  For the last couple weeks, after being outside, and then coming inside, his cheeks will get really red and look like they have broken out with hives.  He says they dont itch or hurt.  They go away completly within 30-45 minutes, and he looks totally normal again until going BACK outside. 

At first I thought it was the hood of his coat.  I have washed their coats a couple times in the last few weeks (salt sucks!) I think both theyre coats have down in them, because I keep finding random feathers throughout the house.  lol  So i thought maybe I had stirred the pot so to speak in his coat, and his skin was reacting.  No problem!  I took the hood off, its detachable.  I put a hooded sweatshirt on him every day under his coat, and use THAT hood.  But the bumps still come back.

One of his DCPs said her son had something like that a few years back, and the doc said his sensative skin was reacting to the cold.  What I dont get it, #1 hes three.  We live in the frozen tundra.  The kid has been around cold in the winter, BELIEVE ME.  #2 we have had a record setting winter this year.  It started Dec1st and hasnt stopped.  We have been dipping into the below 0 wind chills for atleast amonth.  This only started last week. 

Anyone got any ideas?  Im wondering if, since they seem to go away after a half hour, maybe I shouldnt worry much?

THANKS!

[limette]

I have the same thing. I found out there was actually a name for it here on mothering. I'm sure someone will come along and tell you the term as I can't remember it at the moment.

I also have lived in the frozen tundra all my life and the first time I noticed it was when I was a preteen and walked home in the freezing rain. My legs broke out in massive hives that covered the entire surface.

It doesn't always happen, in fact it's very rare these days but all the advice I have is don't scratch. Scratching makes them bigger. As soon as I get warmed up they go away.

[scsigrl]

Maybe look into Raynaud's phenomenon (also called the red, white and blue disorder).

[lovebugmama]

My nephew was diagnosed with allergy to cold when he was 18 months old.  The doc at the time actually told her that he could develop hives in his lungs from breathing very cold air and to watch out for any breathing difficulties in cold conditions.  He gets hives all over his body if he swims in cold water or will get them on his hand after washing them in cold water.

It is bizarre.  I don't recall there being a name, only that it was a true allergy.  Our whole family thought it was crazy, but you can clearly see it happening.

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

OK, that makes me wonder about this cough he has had since NOVEMEBER.  It comes and goes, has only really acted up once.  I had the same thing from Nov-Dec, so I really havent though much of it.  There doesnt seem to be much rhyme or reason to when that flares though.  Hmmmmmmmmm....

[limette]

okay i just googled it. it's called cold urticaria.

[deditus]

Yep, one of my girlfriends gets hives from the cold - it doesn't have to be very cold, either. She was getting them one day last fall when she was wearing shorts and it was a tad chilly in the shade, maybe 60-65 degrees out.

[lkmiscnet]

I experienced cold urticaria back in 1997. It lasted about a month. My immune system just went haywire for some reason and there was never a cause determined and it just went away, never to recur again. I had my immune system tested through bloodwork and nothing came up.

I was breaking out in hives and my doctor and I couldn't find a cause. One hot summer morning, while driving to work, I was starting to get hives on one of my arms. I finally figured out it was because the vent for my car's air conditioner was directed right on that spot. I did a little more detective work and the hives were all connected to anything cold. Sitting on my cold porcelain tub edge caused hives on the back of my thighs. Cold rain hitting my arms caused hives. I ate ice cream and my tongue swelled up.

I was getting teased at work about having to move to a hot climate year round. Of course, it was no laughing matter.

It did go away and has never been an issue again.

[A&A]

I had cold uticaria as a child.  When I'd sit on the cold, wooden church bench in my thin dress, I'd end up with hives that looked like welts.

[CarrieMF]

My youngest has the opposite problem.  It is the sun/heat that causes her to react like that.  It was the worst when she was 3 & has never been that bad again, but we haven't had summers as hot as that again.  Her cheeks get bad while in baths & worse after dance, she is almost 9 & always has red cheeks.

[calynde]

Yes, i was allergic to the cold as a child, too. Hives like crazy! I grew out of it at some point.

[MisaGoat]

I had a friend in middle school who that would happen to. This is in NJ, it gets cold but I think most of winter it is in the 20s-30s so not very severe weather. After college she moved to Hawaii. 

[Panserbjorne]

I used to get hives with sun exposure as a kid-ended actually in adulthood after I started gut healing, interestingly enough.  Still super sensitive to hot weather though.

if you use homeopathy you might consider seeing how aconite works.  it's pretty specific for exposures to cold and conditions that come on suddenly.  Don't know if it would work, as I'm not totally sure of the mechanism behind it (if it's a histamine based reaction or not?) but it would be interesting to try and couldn't hurt!

[WaturMama]

I have had what I remember being called "cold induced uticaria" as a child and a few times as an adult. It always happened when I was really active outside--maybe because I was breathing a lot of cold air. I have allergies and mild asthma, and it just seems to be part of the whole allergic picture for me.

Good wishes!