Oedema Q

[damprye]

Is it normal for the skin to not only feel tight but itchy too?

[Mother Goose]

Yup. A tingle tho. Happens when skin is stretched or dry or healing

[damprye]

I'm itchier the more swollen I get and have accidentally ripped up a patch of skin today :/

[Mum2twoBoys]

I agree with MG, it's usually due to the stretching of skin. Maybe try putting a sorbolene cream on to help ease the itch. But oedema can also lead to thinning of the skin, and therefor easier to tear. So please be careful, and try not to scratch it. Have you got pressure stockings at all to help alleviate the swelling? As well as regularly raising feet to reduce it?

[damprye]

Yup, I do have stockings and putting my feet up as much as possible. Its my arm that I pulled the skin up from. Trying to drink lots of fluids to

[Mum2twoBoys]

So you have oedema in arms as well? Do you have them bandaged too?

[damprye]

Arms, legs and face :/ Haven't got arms bound, just legs. Have my next OB appt on Monday

[AnyDream]

You poor thing, you must be so uncomfortable . I hope you can get some relief soon.

[Mum2twoBoys]

You are having a rough trot. Sadly the only real thing to do is cover to protect, so something like tubigrips would be good. The skin becomes like tissue paper when there's fluid sitting underneath it.

[AnyDream]

Also wanted to add - when people have non-pregnancy lymphoedema, they can get a lot of relief from being in water (eg in a pool or in a warm not hot deep bath). It works because the pressure of the water helps push the fluid back into the lymph drainage nodes. You could ask your dr/midwife whether this is something that would be helpful to make you more comfortable right now. Some hospitals have a hydrotherapy pool that is available for use by pregnant women, worth asking about if the dr agrees it could help.