What is the cause for my wife's skin allergy?

Q: My wife has skin allergy. She gets rashes on her body. I heard that this occurs when someone eats ants by mistake. We showed this to a skin specialist who said that this is due to some allergy. It could be due to consumption of some food/drink containing citric acid. What is the cause for this?

A:There are a lot of myths attached to hives, which is what your wife probably has. Please remember that most of these attacks have no cause (idiopathic), and majority of them resolve on their own. However she will need non-sedative antihistamines to relieve her symptoms. Kindly get your family physician to prescribe a safe one. Abstain from over-the-counter medication. Diet, drugs, and stress are to be monitored.