Q: I am a 28 years old male, have started doing daily exercise from the last 15 days. I have noticed that after 20 to 30 minutes of jogging, I get small red spots on my both hands and they disappear after 15 to 20 minutes. I would like to know the reason for it. How can my condition be treated?

A:What you probably have is Cholinergic urticaria . People who have a physical hive/urticaria have a physical trigger for their hives, such as pressure, heat, cold, sunlight, water or exercise. Up to 20 to 30 percent of people with chronic urticaria have a physical cause. Cholinergic or heat urticaria is a form of chronic hives that is caused by an increase in body temperature. Hives are caused by any increase in body temperature, such as hot showers, exercise, spicy foods, or being under too many covers in bed at night. Strong emotions may also cause hives to occur in people with cholinergic urticaria. It is not completely known why cholinergic urticaria occurs, although some of these people appear to have an allergy to their own sweat. This is determined by performing skin testing to a persons own sweat. The best treatment for cholinergic urticaria is antihistamines. While any antihistamine is likely to be helpful, older antihistamines, such as hydroxyzine, seem to work especially well. Severe cases of cholinergic urticaria have been successfully treated with danazol, which is an anabolic steroid. Use of this medication is limited by its severe side effects, however. Some people with cholinergic urticaria respond well to beta-blockers, especially when strong emotions seem to be a cause of a persons symptoms. These medications, however, should be used with caution in people that actually may have exercise-induced anaphylaxis.