The skin between/under my breasts, directly over my sternum really hurts. There's a burning sensation like the skin is being stretched, sometimes it also itches.
The weird thing is, this bit of skin is probably being stretched the least out of any part of my chest/belly/abdomen, so why does it hurt soooooo much?
Has anyone else experienced this? How can I make it stop. It hurts to wear a bra because any strap around the part of my body (i.e. the bra waist band) just kills me. Of course, I don't want to be going braless at this stage in my pregnancy.
What to do? I haven't heard anyone else mention this pain. Is there something wrong with me?
HI kuraiza,
I had/have this too, under my right breast . I asked my obstetrician and he said it's quite common to have patches of hypersensitivity/?neuralgia or paraesthesia I think he may have said. With me also it's not the most stretched bit of skin by any means, but the nerves might be going through some changes or something.
He said nothing much can be done about it. With me, I got some relief by applying pressure with my hand, also rubbing firmly (as opposed to lightly), eg with tummy rub creams. But yes I know what you mean about clothing/anything light brushing against it. Felt like either stinging/burning/tingling - definately nerve-like pain. It was worst for me around 21-24 weeks especially in bed. Now it just comes and goes a bit.
Although it isn't stretched hun, it does pull as the weight of your belly sort of goes out and down from there IYKWIM....when you think about the huge changes we have gone through it is amazing more doesn't hurt really! I hope you can find some relief - I find rubbing my belly cream on each day really helps with the stretching and itchy feeling al over it.
hi! i've had the exact same thing on my right side since about 16 weeks. i thought it was my ab muscles separating, or that i'd hurt myself running or lifting something but i'm 32 weeks now and it's STILL there LOL plus since i've been getting a crawling/numb sensation so i guess it's probably not muscular, more likely a pinched nerve.
my physio suggested that it could be referred pain from back pain - she gave me a massage and it gave a little bit of relief. apart from that i've found that a cold compress helps a bit too, but it has gotten slightly better on it's own over the weeks.
Deni: That sounds like it exactly. I also get relief using firm pressure, but it's not lasting relief. I'll talk to my doctor but if there's nothing that can be done ... I hope it's just a pregnancy symptom and it will go away on its own. I thought I had developed an allergy to bra elastic or something.
Tanstar: That's true, my belly is hanging off that skin. I actually thought last night that it looked like I might be developing stretch marks over my sternum, of all places, which wouldn't surprise me because I do have unexplained stretch marks on other parts of my body.
Tish: It doesn't feel like muscles separating to me. Although your pain sounds more like the rib pain I've also endured which has been quite hellish as well.
Looking forward to pains going away. Come on baby, finish incubating already!
More Weird Pains (Mark II)
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