Courtesy of Ariana Page Russell

Due to an allergic condition, Ariana Page Russell's skin provides an unexpected canvas for "skin writing." Russell used a stencil to rub this floral pattern on her stomach. Histamines helped create the colorful, raised design.

Ariana Page Russell's skin sometimes has an unusual reaction when she gets a slight scratch: Within minutes, her skin feels warm and the area that was scratched gets red, puffy, and raised like a hive.

Next, it turns white and then a little pink. Twenty minutes later any swelling, itchiness, or markings are gone, and her skin looks normal.

To Russell, it's just "this weird thing my skin does." It wasn't until she sought out a dermatologist that she realized this odd reaction had a name: dermographic urticaria.

Also called dermographism, meaning "writing on the skin," this exaggerated skin reaction is a type of hive, or "urticaria."

Courtesy of Ariana Page Russell

Ariana Page Russell used blunt knitting needles to form the letters on her legs.

If Russell, a 33-year-old New York City artist, scratches the letters of a word on her forearm, upper thigh, or stomach, you'd be able to read it because it will look like she has been writing on her skin.

"This reaction is due to a histamine release," says dermatologist Dr. Joanna Wallengren, who has studied dermographic urticaria. "This is the same response as in spontaneous hives." (Histamine is also what's released in an allergic reaction.)

These hives occur anywhere from 2 to 10 minutes after skin is scratched. First, the skin becomes red, and then a raised welt forms, followed by white hives along the scratch line.

"Often the central part is whiter than the surrounding redness," explains Wallengren, an associate professor in the department of dermatology at Skane University Hospital in Lund, Sweden. "There is often an itching or burning sensation," she adds.

Wallengren says that pressure on the skin is the most common trigger of dermographic urticaria. This can be from the pressure of tight-fitting clothing or from carrying a heavy bag that rubs against the skin. Some people get it after showering and scrubbing their skin.

This exaggerated skin reaction is usually not inherited, and most people with it do not have allergies or sensitive skin, according to Wallengren. Emotions and stress may worsen symptoms, she says.

Although the exact cause of dermographic urticaria is unclear, Wallengren says that people normally respond to treatment with antihistamines taken on a daily basis. "Sometimes one pill is not enough," to relieve itchiness, "and the dose needs to be doubled or tripled," she points out. 

Roughly 5 percent of the population is thought to have dermographism, and it's most common in young adults in their 20s and 30s.

Russell first noticed her skin had this odd reaction when she was in high school. Russell, who says she has a mild form, decided to play around with it and use her skin as a canvas for her artwork. Then she photographed the results.

"This was a unique way for me to make art," she explains. She uses blunt knitting needles to make her designs. Sometimes she draws freehand and other times she creates stencils with intricate patterns that she traces onto her skin.

"It doesn't hurt, but I know other people tell me that dermographic urticaria causes them pain," Russell says.

Asked about the reaction to her skin-related artwork, Russell admits, "Some people think it's weird, strange, or disgusting."

"But then I get hundreds of emails from people with skin issues who are so appreciative that I am putting my skin condition out there," she adds. "They tell me I'm doing something beautiful with a weird condition."

When people with dermographic urticaria see her photographs, it helps them know that they are not a freak, she suggests.

"I'm just trying to show that this is skin, and everybody's skin does different things," Russell says. "There's nothing to be ashamed of."

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By Life's Little Mysteries staff

Most people who are allergic to chocolate aren't having a reaction to cocoa or any of chocolate's other official ingredients. No, the flare ups are most likely triggered by the ground-up cockroach parts that contaminate every batch.

According to ABC News, the average chocolate bar contains eight insect parts. Anything less than 60 insect pieces per 100 grams of chocolate (two chocolate bars' worth) is deemed safe for consumption by the Food and Drug Administration.

Allergists say most foods contain natural contaminants. Aside from chocolate, cockroach parts also make their way into peanut butter, macaroni, fruit, cheese, popcorn and wheat. The roach bits can affect people with asthma, as well causing migraines, cramps, itching or hives in people who are allergic to them.

The first cockroach allergy was reported in 1943, and skin testing for cockroaches began in 1959. Cockroach allergies can be treated with allergy shots that contain trace amounts of the insect. [Could Edible Bugs Solve World Hunger?] 

According to Morton Teich, an allergist at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, contamination by cockroaches and their droppings is unavoidable, because it happens at cocoa beans' source — the farms where they are produced. Preventing them from infiltrating the harvest would require the use of more pesticides, which Teich says are much worse for you than consuming a few extra bug parts.

Avoiding insects in your food is "almost impossible," Teich told ABC. "You probably would have to stop eating completely."

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• Photographic Evidence: The Grossest Things
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Allergic to cats? Then beware of pigs -- or at least, the meat that comes from these sty-dwelling swine. A small number of people who are sensitive to felines may also get allergic reactions to eating pork.

Dubbed "pork-cat syndrome," this food-induced allergic reaction can occur after consuming pork in people who are also allergic to cats, says Jonathon Posthumus, MD, a fellow in the division of asthma, allergy and immunology at the University of Virginia Health System in Charlottesville.

Although this rare syndrome was first recognized in Europe in the mid-1990s, Posthumus and his colleagues recently described the first six documented cases of it in the U.S. He presented his preliminary findings at the annual meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.

According to Posthumus, the true allergen in people with pork-cat syndrome is albumin, a protein that's found in both cat dander and in pork meat. When albumin is consumed in a pork-containing meal it can trigger an allergic reaction in sensitive individuals.

But not all people who are allergic to cat dander are sensitive to cat albumin. So, most cat-allergic individuals would probably not have reactions to pork. 

In this research, five out of six cases of pork-cat syndrome were seen in women, and the average age of those with this rare food sensitivity was 28. Blood tests were positive for cat dander and pork antibodies in all six people.

Following a meal containing pork, one person reported having an itchy mouth, three broke out in hives, and two had anaphylaxis, a severe and sometimes life-threatening allergic reaction. 

People with this syndrome may also develop swelling of the mouth, lips or tongue, and these same areas could become itchy after consuming pork products. Posthumus suspects the reaction may be related to how much pork is on your plate, but he says, there is no way to determine the threshold amount that triggers these symptoms.

Those diagnosed with this unusual food hypersensitivity are advised to steer clear of eating pork, and told what signs to look for and treatments to seek if they accidentally slip-up.

The UVA scientists discovered the country's first reported cases while researching people with meat allergies. Perhaps pork-cat syndrome has been under-recognized in the U.S. because "it can easily be missed if the patient is not properly evaluated and the relationship to cat allergy is not appreciated," Posthumus points out.

Readers, if you've ever experienced these strange sensations after eating pork, we have to hear about it. Leave us a comment telling us your story.

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Imagine this: You take a bite of a crisp fall apple and notice your lips feel a little itchy. An odd sensation, but you ignore it and take another bite. Now your tongue is itchy too. After another bite, the itch spreads to your throat. As you swallow the apple, your throat starts to swell. The weird thing is, you're not allergic to apples; you've eaten them all your life. So what's up?

“I like to call oral allergy syndrome 'the cocktail party allergy,” says Dr. Chris Webber, an allergy/immunology specialist based in Denver, Colorado. “It is surprisingly common among people who have seasonal allergies, but (the sufferers) think there's something strange about (themselves) and never bring it up to doctors or friends. But if you bring it up at a social event, you find it is very, very common.”

Oral allergy syndrome (OAS) is a bodily response that occurs in some adult hay fever sufferers when they eat certain raw fruits and vegetables. For the majority of people, its side-effects are annoying but not life-threatening: a temporary itching of the mouth area coupled with a swelling of the throat. The more disturbing aspect is mental: Why are people suddenly allergic to foods they've eaten hundreds of times before?

In fact, it's not specific foods that are the problem: It's pollen. And OAS is just your body being a little over-protective.

Of course, your immune system means well. When you develop a pollen allergy, it's responsible for producing an antibody against that pollen. OAS occurs when your immune system mistakes the food you're eating for the pollen to which you are allergic.

Say you're allergic to birch pollen and eat an apple. Your body might detect trace amounts of pollen left on that apple and start producing antibodies. In one bite, a food you've enjoyed all your life has become an itch-inducing enemy.

Luckily, there are a couple of ways for those affected by OAS to go around the problem and enjoy their food. A common method is to literally go (all) around it, by removing a fruit's outer skin. If that's not sufficient, another tactic has even more dramatic results:

“Heating the foods denatures the fruit's cross reactive protein and renders it nonfunctional,” Dr. Webber explains. In layman's terms: cook it before you eat it, and you're good to go.

Of course, if you suffer from OAS and can't bring yourself to stay away from the raw foods, you can always just wait out the reaction; it typically only lasts about 15 minutes.

And don't forget to bond with fellow oral allergy syndrome sufferers at your next cocktail party!

OK, your turn, readers: Has this ever happened to you, or someone you know? 

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As fall allergies act up or school kids get their first round of seasonal colds, it's not unusual to hear a voice that sounds hoarse or croaky -- what's described as a "frog in the throat."

When Dr. Ramon Franco, director of the division of laryngology at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston, hears this complaint he says it can mean one of two things. It can mean a temporary hoarseness when patients try to speak, or people may feel like there's a lump in the throat -- as if they swallowed a frog.

The three main causes of the hoarseness type of "frog in the throat" are viral, allergies, or reflux, explains Franco. Anything that disturbs the opening and closing of the vocal folds (what we commonly call the vocal cords), can deepen your voice and make it sound rough. 

For seasonal allergy sufferers, mucus from the sinuses can make its way into the throat and act as a wedge, interfering with the vocal folds regular opening and closing pattern. This changes the sound of your normal voice so it seems raspy and strained. Sometimes simply clearing the mucus in your throat helps your usual voice return.

During a viral illness, mucus can also clog up the inner workings of the voice box leaving you sounding husky.

If it's not seasonal allergies and you don't have a cold, sore throat, or flu, Franco says the likely culprit is "silent reflux," known as laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR). Acid from the stomach can come up and hit the bottom part of the throat irritating the delicate voice box. When this happens less than 50 times a day, that's normal. When LPR reflux happens more frequently provoked by such common triggers as spicy foods, alcohol, caffeine, carbonated beverages, and smoking, it can irritate the throat over time.

To defend itself from the acid backwash, the throat blankets itself with a mucus coating. But if too much mucus buildups as a protection against reflux, it may cause excessive throat clearing, a persistent cough, or "a frog in the throat."

A froggy throat is often a temporary annoyance that goes away after a viral illness runs its course or allergy symptoms are relieved. If it's from silent reflux, start by avoiding the dietary or lifestyle habits that trigger acid into the throat.

For a "frog" that feels like a lump in the throat or that something is in there when you swallow, which doctors call the globus sensation, Franco says inflammation is probably responsible. This can be brought on by a bad cold, reflux, a viral infection, allergies, or enlarged tonsils.

But if you've been consistently hoarse and your voice sounds abnormal for more than two weeks, make a doctor's appointment. This could be anything from an infection or polyps to thyroid problems or cancer. If you truly discover a lump in your neck, Franco recommends seeing your doctor immediately to find out what's causing the swelling.

Readers, what's your best remedy for a gravelly voice?

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Everett Kennedy Brown / EPA

A photograph made available on April 18 shows plumes of pollen from cedar trees being carried by a gust of wind in Hanamaki city, Iwate prefecture, Japan on April 12. The pollen from cedar trees is the major cause of hay fever in Japan, a malady that affects 29.8 per cent of the Japanese population each spring.

See our slideshow of Micropollen: The beauty behind your allergy misery and follow our coverage of allergies and asthma.