Should stretch marks hurt?

My stretch marks are absolutely agonising. They aren't just flat, pink/purpley stripes on my belly, although they were to start with. They are thick, ropey, raised red and inflamed ... and so sore to touch - like bad sunburn. All of my clothes sitting on them cause more pain, and even the seams at the bottom of my singlets are causing horizontal gouge marks across my stretch marks, because the skin is so sensitive.

Help! What can I do to make them feel better?
Cool compresses (e.g. damp facecloth) help temporarily, but nothing seems to work longer term.

Ouch Cherie....sounds sore.

My sister in law had this at 36 weeks...and in her case it was caused by an increase in fluid between her belly and her skin. Very painful, and sounds exactly like what your describing. Her stretch marks changed and became angry and raised. Are you swelled anywhere else?

AS for a help I would think the cold compress would be about the best thing you could do. In my SIL's case it was the onset of PE, which caused the increased fluid, and she was induced within 48 hours. She had high BP though, and was swelled up like a pumpkin.

Thats just her case example..I hope its not TMI for you.

Ouch & Goodluck.
Jac

Thanks Jacqui. My feet are very swollen, but my belly only seems to be swollen with baby IYKWIM - there doesn't seem to be extra fluid. My 32wk u/s estimated that it was a ginormous bubba though, so maybe it's the extra-sized baby pushing everything outwards. And my BP has been fine the whole way through (keeping fingers crossed lol), and my stretch marks have been hurting like this for about 2 weeks now.

Your poor sister - honestly, this is bad enough without adding PE into the mix.

Hello, my stretchmarks started out short but got longer and the ends (ie the bit where the stretchmark was growing) always hurt a bit. I would imagine this would be worse if you had a sudden increase in size. I agree with the cool compresses, you could also try a drop of a soothing aromatherapy oil like chamomile (Roman), rose or lavender in some moisturiser or oil smoothed over the area. HTH

Cherie
Stretch marks can be a little painful but not to the degree that you have. I have no idea what is going on there apart form a vague hint a PE. I would suggest that you get it checked out

Bummer :( but thanks Alan! I wil give my OB/midwife a call ...

Arrgh .. so sore! Even putting the palm of my hand on them hurts - because of the warmth of my hands.

Ouchies Cherie, I hope it's nothing too bad.

Ooh.. ouch. Mine were a bit itchy occassionally, but they certainly didn't hurt like that! You poor thing. Hope it's nothing serious like PE.

I would be trying to keep the skin as supple as possible.. maybe rub a heap of olive oil onto them? or Aloe? (straight from the plant) Aloe might sooth the burning sensation.

Hope you get some relief soon!

Hi there! I've had stretch marks forever!! But not to your degree.
Afriend of mine had 'inflamed' stretch marks, and they used to bleed. I'm not sure how she went with them. She wasn't even pregnant at the time.
Hope you find some answers and remedies soon!!
Good luck
Nicky

OMG @ the bleeding Nicky! That sounds terrible.

Aloe is a good idea Liz - I keep meaning to buy an aloe plant - they'd come in handy so often. I wonder if those after-sun gels that contain aloe would help?

I kept cool compresses on the stretch marks most of last night (while I was awake) and then slathered pure cocoa butter on before bed, which did seem to help as they almost seemed less prominent this morning (although DH thinks it was wishful thinking on my part lol). But they're flaring up again today with the heat, so I'm off to wet the facewasher again. I've got some Roman Chamomile oil, and some lavender, so I'm going to try adding that to the water.

Cherie, a really soothing compress can be made with some cool chamomile tea, you can add the lavender to that, Good luck, it sounds absolutely awful.

Quick update ...
I put off calling my OB yesterday, because I felt like a bit of a doofus ringing about stretch marks, which was silly of me really - it's not like I was ringing to tell him that I didn't like the look of them lol.

But during yesterday and this morning, they got worse and worse and started spreading outwards, and the stretch marks started looking more like welts. They got soooo itchy, and the rest of my body was itchy too, although not as bad, and with no welts.

I called my OB this morning - he said to come straight in, and has ordered blood tests for liver function. He said it's probably either Obstetric Cholestasis (which I really, really hope it's not, as it's quite serious) or PUPPP (pruritic urticaria with plaques and papules in pregnancy ... or really itchy rash with lumps and bumps when pregnant!) which is fairly harmless to mother and baby (except for the distinct possbiity of mum losing her mind because of the itching lol). He seems to think more likely that it's PUPPP, as Obstetric Cholestasis is quite rare, and doesn't usually have a rash associated with it.

The good news is my blood pressure is still perfect, baby is kicking and moving around well, and bub's heartbeat was strong.

I've got a follow-up appt on Friday, to get the blood test results, although I'm sure he'll ring me before then if it's anything serious.

ETA: turned into a not-so-quick update lol.

Ouchies. I hope it's the not so serious one.

Me too Sarah! Statistically it's unlikely that it would be the serious one, so I'm hanging onto that lol.

Bugger
I should have thought of that
Sorry

Don't be sorry Alan :)
It wasn't itchy in my original post, and it seems to be itchiness that is the main feature of both things.
I probably still wouldn't have bothered calling my OB if not for your suggestion, so I really appreciate your input!

Hi Cherie...Just called in to check on your progress thats great news to hear...I hope they ease a little. I am pleased you called your OB. As a rule of thumb I do not run to the dr with every cold or pain...but during this pregnancy I have seen my doctor more times then ever. I have hardly had a monthly checkup go by where I havent had to go in earlier as something wasn't right. From Bladder Infections, to possible Thrombolitis, to possible Thrush (which I have never had). Only to find out the infection was slight, the thrombolitis was non-existent, and my suspected thrush was a reaction to scented toilet paper.

I guess the bright side is at least I have answers to all of the above which puts the good old mind at ease lol.

Goodluck Jac

Hi Cherie,

Did you have any itchiness earlier on in your pregnancy?? Cause of the past few days my whole body has gotten really really itchy and I am getting lots and lots of stretch marks but nothing like you described..

(I'm so sorry Jacqui that I didn't post earlier - I have been limiting my computer time, as doing something passive like sitting in front of the computer seems to make me more aware of my itchiness).

Ngala - I had a little bit of itchiness earlier in the pregnancy, mostly on my belly, but I think that was mostly my skin stretching, and probably just that normal pregnancy itch that people talk about. PUPPP usually only starts late in the third trimester, although I have read stories online of women who develop it earlier, and my heart goes out to them.

There are a couple of pictures of my stretch marks and the red welts I developed on my personal blog here, about halfway down the page: http://cherie-n-gareth.blogspot.com/ (excuse the daggy undies lol) but since I took those photos, the stretch marks have improved but the other welts have gotten worse and there's more of them.

As it turns out, my blood tests were all fine (therefore not obstetric cholestasis thanks goodness), and the OB said it was definitely PUPPP that I had, and that giving birth was the only thing that would make it go away.

After I posted my original post, the itchiness got worse and worse over about a week. I now have red welts and bumps over most of my body, but especially my arms and legs. There have been many nights where I have been crying in the bath at 3am, ready to ring the hospital and demand a c/section - the itching has driven me insane at times.

When I saw my OB last Friday, he said that he would be willing to induce me this coming Friday (when I was 38wks) if I really wanted, but that it wouldn't be his preference, and that there would be distinct disadvantages to inducing a baby that wasn't ready (e.g. higher likelihood of forceps, epidural etc). He knows that I want a natural birth, so I appreciated the fact that he was honest and not quick to jump on the intervention-bandwagon.

Having said that, it has gotten so bad that it has been a constant temptation to me to accept the induction, just to rid myself of the itching.

I am controlling it through Phenergen (an anti-histamine), Betnovate (a topical corticosteroid cream), aqueous cream with menthol, cold pinetarsol baths, distraction (shopping, meeting up with friends, cleaning), relaxation and listening to my hypnobirthing CD, and dandelion root tea.

I see my OB again tomorrow, and I think I have things under control enough to tell him that I'll wait until baby decides to come out of his/her own accord.

Oh my Cherie, that looks really nasty! Its good that you have gotten control over it tho.

I think I will mention this to my doc the next visit, which is next week and we will see what he says. I occassionally get a rash type thing on the tops of my thighs that comes when it is fairly hot.

Cherie, you're a stronger woman than I, I'd be asking for an induction straight away! I can't imagine being so uncomfortable just from being pregnant, then being itchy and sore from the PUPPP aswell. I admire you for whichever decision you make :D