Itching During Pregnancy

In this this write-up, I’d like to discuss itching during pregnancythat occurs on the skin all over the body, with the most common problem areas being the skin of the arms, legs, or abdomen (the baby bump).

Many if not most pregnant women suffer from itching on their belly. What leads to this to occur is the same thing that causes stretch marks: the stretching of the skin of the abdominal region while suffering from dry skin at the same time. You should not take itchiness on your belly lightly while you’re pregnant. If it’s itching, then that’s an early sign that you could be on your way to having stretch marks, and that's something that no woman wants.

But how do you know if it’s just the usual itching from the stretching and dry skin and not something more serious? Think about other symptoms. If there is something more sinister going on, then you’ll be feeling generally unwell, having your skin turn yellowish, and possibly be suffering from headaches. With the regular itching that comes with pregnancy, you may see a bad rash, but aside from that you will feel like you’re in generally good health.

But now that we've discussed the causes, what do you do about the itch? If you have the itch on your limbs, you might think about an itch remedy from the store. Calamine lotion is good, as is hydrocortisone cream. All you have to do is apply it to the itchy part of your body at least twice a day. If the itching is on your belly, you should also use an anti-itch medicine from the pharmacy a couple of times each day, but you also need to pick up a remedy to help get rid of the dry skin and make it easier for your baby bump skin to stretch comfortably.

What works well is a good natural moisturizer such as Cocoa butter. Don’t put it on at the same time as the anti-itch remedy. Instead, try putting on the itch cream when you first wake up and then again just before you retire for the night. And then apply the Cocoa butter liberally several times (as often as you can really) throughout the day. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at how fast your symptoms will clear up. You could literally be itch free and be rid of your bothersome symptoms within less than a week.

To quickly discuss an additional solution that I discussed in a previous write-up for when your itching during pregnancy is acute and you need relief NOW is to run hot water on your itchy skin. Run water in the bath or shower as hot as you can tolerate it. Then, all you have to do is let the water shooting from the faucet hit your itchy spot directly. This releases histamines in your skin which will give immediate relief. From the moment the hot water hits your skin, it will be the most wonderful relief – like a million little fingers scratching your itch at the molecular level. Certain individuals have been known to become weak in the knees when implementing this remedy because it feels so good! Just be careful not to burn yourself.