An Allergy to Cold Weather

An Allergy to Cold Weather Dr. Travis Stork: And now, I want to switch gears a little bit to another ailment. This one primarily affects young adults. We have 13-year-old Dani on the phone. Dani, you developed a certain type of allergy recently, did you not? Dani: Yeah, just recently I have been diagnosed. I'm allergic to the cold. And if I go outside and it’s cold out, I get hives and I didn’t really think that it’s from the cold before. Dr. Travis Stork: Which I’m going to explain everyone at home, cold urticaria, believe it or not is an allergic reaction to the cold and what happens oftentimes is you release histamines in your skin. You'll develop these hives, you get reds, swelling. Sometimes it can even in a rare circumstances progress to allergic reaction involving throat swelling. Now Dani, this is a particular problem for you because you’re a big skier and you live in Colorado, in the mountains. Dani: Yeah. Dr. Travis Stork: So let me guess, your question is, fix it or live with it, right? Dani: Yes. Dr. Travis Stork: So the good news Dani is a lot of people will grow out of this. Sometimes over five or six years, it’ll just go away. Dani: Good. Dr. Travis Stork: But your goal is to be in Olympian, right? Be a skier? Dani: Yeah, at some point, I’d like to make it to the Olympics. Dr. Travis Stork: Well, the best thing you do is I’m going to give you a few preventative tips. If you get the cold urticaria, do the histamine release, so if you take non-sedating antihistamines, that will help decrease the reaction. I know I would say that most people avoid the cold but you’re going to get out of there when your skin, make sure you bundle up. Keep your self as warm as possible. There are other medications you can look into but you don’t have to stop doing the things you love, just take proper precautions and we hope someday to see you on the Podium. Dani: Thank you very much. Dr. Travis Stork: Thank you Dani, good luck to you. Dani: Thanks.