Pregnancy Hives
What to do about pregnancy hives
During pregnancy, hives can cause a lot of itching and discomfort. Hives are essentially an allergic reaction to something, so getting hives during pregnancy is really nothing to worry about. Hives usually show up as a red welt that’s clustered together in certain areas of the skin. They are often found on the legs, arms and back, and they can be extremely itchy.
During pregnancy, hives are pretty uncommon, with only about 99 percent of women reporting them. In most cases the itching is caused by another similar condition that does happen frequently during pregnancy. Sometimes the condition officially called pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy, or PUPPP, is called pregnancy hives. This condition usually occurs on the backside, arms, and legs. It causes severe itching, and the only way for most pregnant women to find relief is through non-medicated methods. Pregnancy hives are characterized by itchy welts that are raised and firm. They’re usually red, and a sure sign that they’re pregnancy hives is if they first appear in the stretch marks on the stomach. The welts usually spread to the chest and arm pits, although usually they don’t go onto the face at all. Pregnancy hives usually occur during the third trimester of pregnancy.
It’s important to determine whether the skin condition is caused by an actual allergy or if it’s just a case of pregnancy hives. If an allergy caused the hives, then you must figure out what triggered the allergy and remove it from the equation. If the problem is just pregnancy hives, then there are a number of things you can do to find relief from all the itching.
All of the at-home remedies for pregnancy hives are ways to sooth the skin and reduce itching. A bath with a cup of oatmeal in it is a good way to relieve some of the itching. You also might try making a paste out of water and making soda and simply applying it to the area that’s itching. Also make sure you’re keeping the area well moisturized because dry skin is more prone to itching than moisturized skin is.
If the pregnancy hives are very serious, then doctors may occasionally prescribe a steroidal medication. Steroids are perfectly safe for you to take during pregnancy, but doctors usually like to minimize the amount of medication a woman takes during pregnancy.
Most doctors believe the reason many pregnant women get pregnancy hives is because of how much the skin is stretching during pregnancy. Women who are pregnant with multiples are at a higher risk for pregnancy hives, and doctors think it’s because their skin stretches even more than the average pregnant woman’s skin.
PUPPP usually clears up within a few weeks of delivering the baby, although occasionally it lasts more than four weeks after the baby was delivered. The condition is more common among women who are pregnant for the first time, and it usually does not happen in later pregnancies.