Here's my comprehensive list of treatments I've tried in the past. I'll rate them on a scale of 1-10, 1 being not helpful at all and 10 being complete healing. I'll also indicate whether it simply brought temporary relief or actually worked to heal the rash.
Oatmeal Baths: Rating - 2, temporary relief
These baths (I used the Aveeno brand) felt ok while I was in them, but left zero lasting relief once I was out.
Epsom Salt Baths: Rating - 1, neither temporary or healing relief
While I normally love a good epsom salt bath, I found no relief from the itching with these.
Herbal Baths: Rating - 2, temporary relief
I had another friend with PUPPPs that found huge relief from herbal baths that included herbs like comfrey, calendula, lavender, plantain, red raspberry, and others. The bath felt sort of nice while I was in it, soothing even. Sadly, there was no change in the itch as a result of the multiple treatments I tried.
Aloe Vera: Rating - 2, temporary relief
Aloe, which I refrigerated to increase the cooling effect, alleviated the itch while it was drying. However, as soon as it dried, I was reaching for something else.
Banana Peels: Rating - 1, neither temporary or healing relief
I read somewhere that someone found relief from rubbing banana peels on their rash. Pretty bizarre. That was not the case for me. It stung a bit, but did not decrease the itch at all. Here is a link to one momma that DID find relief with banana peels:
Click Here.
Sun Bathing: Rating - 1, neither temporary or healing relief
I think the theory here is that the UV or the release of vitamin D is supposed to help. Not for me! No help at all. I tried multiple sessions just to be sure.
Charcoal Poultices: Rating - 1, neither temporary or healing relief
This one makes me laugh, just because of the giant mess it made. Charcoal in general is like a zillion tiny sponges. It's awesome treating food poisoning, because it actually soaks up the toxins and bad bugs that are making you ill. I read that charcoal poultices also help some skin conditions in that same way. You paint yourself with a paste of charcoal and water and cover the mixture so that it doesn't dry out. It doesn't work dry. That becomes tricky when the rash is ALL over! I decided to try it on my worst patch, which was at the top of my belly. My mom help paint me with the paste, and then we wrapped me in plastic stretch wrap to keep it from drying out! What a sight! Black goo wrapped up like yesterday's leftovers! Anyway, I tried it for a couple days and then gave up. It wasn't helping, and it was torture to have my itchiest spot covered where I couldn't get to it!
Grandpa's Pine Tar Soap: Rating - 1, neither temporary or healing relief
I'm sorry to say that the soap that seems to help so many people gave me no relief! I didn't notice ANY reduction in the itch. Glad it helps so many others though! If I were starting over, I would still try it, as it seems to bring relief for lots of PUPPPs people!
Sulfur Soap: Rating - 1, neither temporary or healing relief
This soap is recommended for rashes like poison oak, so I thought I'd try it. It was no help, and it was stinky.
Dandelion Root: Rating - 6, healing relief
I drank the tea and took the tincture. When the rash was bad, I tried to drink a cup of tea a day and take 2 droppers of tincture 3x/day. (This was at my midwife's recommendation.) During the 4 times that I've had PUPPPs, this remedy hasn't always worked. I do believe it was the reason my rash became tolerable with my 2nd pregnancy, but it wasn't enough to help my rash on my 3rd pregnancy. I am currently taking it with my 4th pregnancy, and it seems to be contributing to keeping my rash from driving me crazy. I am sleeping through the night.
Nettle Tea: Rating - unsure, healing relief
I drink this tea off and on, but drank it consistently in my second pregnancy. It may have contributed to the healing. It's easy to add a teabag of this stuff when you are already steeping a bag of dandelion tea. Traditional Medicines is the brand I used.
Apis Mellifera homeopathics: Rating - 1, neither temporary or healing relief
Once again, I was disappointed to find that a remedy that seemed to help a lot of women did nothing for me.
Acupuncture: Rating - 1, neither temporary or healing relief
I really gave this one a shot, because lots of people said you can't tell with just a few treatments. I even tried a couple different practitioners. I know it has helped some people, but it did nothing for me.
Ice Packs: Rating - 8, temporary relief
This is definitely my favorite treatment for temporary relief. I have a whole post on it
here. Icing the itch would calm it down sometimes for hours. This meant sleep! Keep a cooler of ice packs by your bed so you don't have to get up in the night.
Essential Oils: Rating - 9, temporary AND healing relief!
This has been revolutionary in my 4th pregnancy with PUPPPs! I wish I had experimented with it in earlier pregnancies! I made a blend of peppermint, lavender, geranium, frankincense, myrrh, eucalyptus, tea tree, and ylang ylang essential oils. The cooling effect of the oils calms the itch immediately and keeps it calm for hours and hours. The anti-inflammatory properties of all the oils seems to heal the rash! It's awesome!! Here's a link to my recent, thorough explanation of this treatment and a recipe for the blend:
Click HERE.
Not-So-Natural Things I've Tried:
Sarna Cream: Rating - 2, temporary relief
This lotion, found at most drugstores, uses menthol and camphor to calm itches. Unfortunately for me, it brought little relief. I would describe it as a mild cooling effect that lasted roughly 5 minutes.
Benadryl: Rating - 1, neither temporary or healing relief
I noticed absolutely zero reduction in symptoms from benadryl pills, either 25 mg or 50 mg doses.
Over the counter hydrocortisone cream: Rating - 3, healing relief
I've found that this brings mild relief. It is NOT an instant relief, but if used consistently, I noticed a slight reduction in the intensity of the itch. I would estimate it took 3-5 days to notice any effect.
Benadryl cream: Rating - 1, neither temporary or healing relief
Again, similar to the pill form, I found zero relief from this antihistamine cream.
Vistaril (hydroxyzine): Rating - 1, neither temporary or healing relief
This heavy-duty prescription antihistamine did nothing for me. It was intended as a sleep aid, and it didn't work for me. The thought is that it makes you sleepy enough that the itch doesn't wake you up. I noticed zero improvement in my sleep from this pill.
Prednisone: Rating - 5, healing relief
Sadly, this nasty steroid did work for me, but my experience was brief. 2 days before giving birth to my first baby, I broke down and took this. By the time I went into labor, I did notice a big drop in the itch. I was feeling much better. I stopped the drug after my girl was born, and the itch did return, though not as intensely for about a month. Talk to you doctor or midwife extensively and give careful consideration before you go forward with this steroid.
Topical triamcinolone 0.1%: Rating - 7, healing relief
This is a topical steroid that was my saving grace with Baby #3. Within 2-3 days of starting treatment, I found a huge reduction in the symptoms. I was more comfortable with this than taking oral Prednisone, because the general opinion of the medical world is that less of the drug gets into your system when it's applied to your skin versus taking a pill. I still had flare-ups periodically, but I would just increase my usage temporarily, and it would calm things down. However, though I didn't notice any side-effect for myself, my baby was born was some serious yeast issues. She had yeast in her diaper area, arms pits, and neck folds until she was roughly 9 months old. Steroids suppress your immune system and allow bad bugs like yeast to grow. It is my understanding that the steroids caused my natural flora (my personal collection of bacteria on my skin, in my gut, and even in my birth canal) to change. Thus, when my baby was born, she was colonized with more bad bacteria than good. We spent months battling this yeast. I will tell her story in more detail in a future post. For now, please know that steroids have side effects worth considering before using them. I learned my lesson with baby #3 and have done everything possible to avoid taking them with this current pregnancy rash.
Alternative Treatments on my list of things to try:
Chinese Medicine 7 Star Needle: Rating - 4, temporary & healing relief
This is a bizarre one! I recently found out about this treatment through puppps.org. It uses a Chinese medicine device designed to treat hives. Here's a pic...
Crazy looking, no? Apparently, you tap the hive until it starts to bleed, and then that hive NEVER itches again. The testimony on puppps.org is really compelling!!! Otherwise, I don't think I'd even consider this treatment! You can find videos on youtube if you want to see the treatment in action. I'm currently building up the courage to order one from amazon. I'll let you know!
UPDATE: I tried it!!
Click HERE for the review!
Black Cherry Juice: theoretical healing relief
UPDATE: rating - 4, healing relief
Apparently this juice is supposed to heal the rash due to its anti-inflammatory properties. A little juice drinking in exchange for rash healing sounds awesome! I think I found this one on a babycenter forum. I'll keep you posted!
UPDATE: see
THIS POST for my experience trying the Black Cherry Juice remedy!
