Wheal

A raised, itchy (pruritic) area of skin that is almost always an overt sign of allergy. Not all wheals are alike. They may be redder or paler than the skin around them. They may vary in configuration and may be rounded or flat-topped. Wheals typically have a reddish hue. They characteristically change in size and shape and they come and go. But they are consistent at being smooth and elevated above the surrounding skin. As anyone who has had wheals knows, they can be intensely, infuriatingly itchy. Wheals reflect circumscribed dermal edema (fluid collection in the layer of skin below the surface). A wheal is a prima facie evidence for an allergic response of the skin. A wheal is also sometimes called a welt and often a hive.

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A circumscribed, evanescent papule or irregular plaque of edema of the skin, appearing as an urticarial lesion, slightly reddened, often changing in size and shape and extending to adjacent areas, and usually accompanied by intense itching; produced by intradermal injection or test, or by exposure to allergenic substances in susceptible persons; also encountered in dermatitis herpetiformis (Darier sign). SYN: hives (2), welt. [A.S. hwele]

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wheal 'hwē(ə)l, 'wē(ə)l n a suddenly formed elevation of the skin surface: as

a) WELT

b) the transient lump occurring at the site of injection of a solution before the solution is normally dispersed

c) a flat burning or itching eminence on the skin <urticarial \wheals>

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(hwēl) (wēl) the typical lesion of urticaria, the dermal evidence of allergy; it is a smooth, slightly elevated, discolored area on the body surface, often accompanied by severe itching. In sensitive persons it may also be provoked by mechanical irritation of the skin. Called also hive and welt.

Wheals.