Acute. The disease is usually at an end in several hours or days.
Does urticaria always pursue an acute course?
No. In exceptional instances the disease is chronic, in the sense that new lesions continue to appear and disappear irregularly from time to time for months or several years, the skin rarely being entirely free (chronic urticaria).
Fig. 12.
Dermatographism. (After C.N. Davis.)
Are subjective symptoms always present in urticaria?
Yes. Itching is commonly a conspicuous symptom, although at times pricking, stinging or a feeling of burning constitutes the chief sensation.
In what way may the eruption be atypical?
Exceptionally the wheals, or lesions, are peculiar as to formation, or another condition or disease may be associated, hence the varieties known as urticaria papulosa, urticaria hæmorrhagica, urticaria tuberosa, and urticaria bullosa.