Urticaria (hives) is the appearance of typical looking strongly itching swelling of the skin. It has many causes.
Urticaria (hives) is the transitory appearance of a raised itchy, red skin with obvious boundaries with a consistent texture on the upper layers of the skin (called wheals). It can be either acute (lasting less than 6 weeks) or chronic (lasting more than 6 weeks). Swelling can occur in the face, lips, and in serious cases in the larynx, which is referred to as angioedema. Triggers can be of the physical kind (pressure, cold, heat, sunlight, or contact with water), sweating, allergies (food, insect venom, medication) or rarely infection. In about one half to two thirds of all cases the cause is unclear, which is referred to as idiopathic urticaria.
Every fifth person suffers from hives at some point in their lives. Patients notice swelling of the skin with redness and strong urge to scratch. Individual wheals are fleeting and only last for several hours. Hives can combine with angioedema. A possible, yet rare complication is an allergic reaction that can lead to shortness of breath or circulatory shock.
If the trigger is known, it should be avoided. For certain allergies such as one to insect venom, allergen-desensitizing treatment may be an option to consider. Symptoms can be treated by taking antihistamines. Cortisone and other steroids (corticosteroids) should only be used to treat a serious allergic reaction: for allergic reactions with shortness of breath, dizziness, or black spots in vision, two antihistamine tablets should be taken together with two cortisone tablets (such as Predison) immediately and a visit to the hospital is necessary, this is an emergency situation.
Several years of work in academia, medical practice and finally commercialization make it possible to provide an end-to-end process to help users to “find the appropriate medical help based on their present symptoms”. Below you will find a short explanation, showing you which part of the platform will help you best in finding the appropriate medical support.
Proceed as follows to enter your current symptoms.
Click on the appropriate body part on the picture. Select one/multiple symptoms corresponding to your complaint.
You can also add symptoms by typing your medical complaint in the search box and selecting the best matching suggestion.
Note: Your information will be kept anonymously.
Once you have selected all applicable symptoms, click the “analyze disease pattern”-button.
Accordingly, you will get a list of possible diseases and matching doctor categories who can further help you.
You can inform yourself about the possible diseases by reading the related information. But you can also return to the previous step and add more symptoms or delete already added ones to further narrow down your disease pattern.
Click on the desired doctor category to find a doctor who can help you.
If you are logged in with your profile, you will be displayed the appropriate doctors in your area. Otherwise you can enter an address in the “address” field and you will be displayed a doctor’s list around that specified address.
You will receive further information about the displayed doctors when you press on “details”.
Online bookable doctors in your area will be indicated with the notation “Book appointment” or “Book externally”, additionally they will be displayed on top of the list for your convenience.
Click on “Book appointment” to start the online appointment booking process with the desired doctor.
Please select an available appointment. “Green“ appointments are booked directly. “Red“ appointments need to be confirmed by the doctor.
Enter your general personal and health information.
Enter your present medical symptoms.
Enter your mobile phone number to identify yourself and you can finalize the appointment booking.
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