Not only is the red appearance of raised spots on a person’s skin, symptoms that a patient may discover, but hives are generally:

It is not very common that hives are painful or sting.  You might notice that the hives left bruises. 

Depending on what triggered the hives, a person suffering can have numerous symptoms.  Especially if the person has, hives do to a viral infection.  He or she could also have a cough, sore throat, or runny nose.