Special app developed to manage urticaria

TO help patients better manage chronic urticaria, a special chronic urticaria self-evaluation app, CRUSE®, has been developed by renowned dermatologists and allergists.

Chronic urticaria is a debilitating skin condition characterised by the recurrent appearance of hives (urticaria) that last for six weeks or longer.

Also read: Six tips to help destress your skin

The persistent and unpredictable nature of chronic urticaria severely impacts a sufferer’s quality of life, with random, often daily episodes of intense itching, hives and or swellings that disrupt sleep and interfere with physical, social and emotional functioning.

The app allows sufferers to record symptoms as and when they happen, while also detailing how it impacts their quality of life in a matter of minutes.

By giving doctors access to their CRUSE® profile, patients can work with their healthcare team to track when symptoms flare up, what could have triggered the response, how they respond to treatment and how it can be improved.

CRUSE® can be downloaded free of charge from any App Store.

Head of the Division of Allergology and Clinical Immunology at Groote Schuur and the UCT Lung Institute, Professor Jonny Peter, says up until a few years ago, little was understood about the condition. Still, as more data has been collected through the Urticaria Centres of Reference and Excellence (UCARE) – a global network of urticaria care clinics – more effective treatments are being trialled.

He said the app was vitally important in their quest to better understand and treat the condition.

“One of the biggest challenges is that by the time patients get to see their doctor, they appear to be completely fine with no symptoms at all, yet the day before they were unable to go to work because they were swollen or covered in hives. CRUSE® offers patients an easy way to track their symptoms on their devices in real time, which in turn allow doctors to make a more informed decision about what treatment should be prescribed.”

He added that another advantage of the app is that it gives doctors a record they can produce to medical aids to motivate for better coverage as treatments can be expensive.

Other ways that may help sufferers of this condition, which affects up to 5% of the population, across ages and genders, but is more common in adult women, include:

• Applying a cold compress like a cool, damp cloth to the affected area to reduce inflammation and swelling.
• Avoiding irritants, such as perfumes, fragranced soaps or moisturisers and staying out of the sun or cold – depending on what a patient’s triggers are.

October 1 marks World Urticaria Day which kicks off a month-long campaign aimed at raising greater public awareness around this condition.

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