PUPPPs Clothing Tips

I am a pretty modest person. But when it comes to PUPPPs, the less clothing the better. Unfortunately, life requires clothing. So, you've got to figure out what to wear that will be the least irritating on your skin. 

Through the FOUR times that I've had this rash, I've found a few things that help. 

Cotton and Silk

When possible, go natural. Simple cotton T-shirts. Not too tight. Not too loose. Loose clothing tickles your skin and just adds to the problem, in my opinion. Tight clothing creates irritation points. Irritation points = rash. Jeans are not your friend. They are a bad combination of lots of seams and tight spots. My current rash started 6 weeks ago. I think I've worn jeans twice since then and regretted both times. Skirts like this one from Old Navy are my super-duper faves. I wear them with leggings so that the bottom hem of the skirt doesn't tickle my legs. (These leggings are my current favorites. Very smooth.) Any skirt with that soft, fold-over, t-shirt material top is good. I have half a dozen of them. 

Shun tags!

If possible, find clothing that has no tag built in. You know, the ones where they just print on the brand, size, etc. Cut out your other tags! I find that my skin flares up with a big patch of rash anywhere there is an irritation. My rash usually starts at my underwear and bra lines. Speaking of bras...

Undergarments

I stop wearing all underwear with seams. (Actually, I shun seams whenever possible too.) I look for this kind kind instead. I found mine at Target. Seamless undies rock.

As for bras, I used to wear those heavy duty, underwire, have-their-own-zip-code-monstrosities specifically for maternity use. I'm pregnant, I need to wear maternity stuff, right? Eh. No. During my 3rd pregnancy, I switched over to a super comfortable bra made by a company called Coobie. (Find them here.)

Aren't they pretty? They are lightyears more comfortable than my old underwire medieval torture devices. Very few seams. Things blossom rather abundantly when I'm pregnant, and they do the job. Not quite as uplifting, but WELL worth the comfort. They even make a "full size" version for the extra well-endowed among us. Normally, my worst patch of rash is under my bra line, but now that I'm wearing this kind, the rash is pretty minimal there. There are also knock-offs of this bra. I have one by a company called Anemone. Looks like it was made in the same factory. I'm pretty sure you can find similar products at your local big box store too. Remember, the fewer seams against your skin, the better! And not too tight!

Ladies, I hope this helps y'all be more comfortable!

Note: I'm not getting any kickbacks from these companies. They are truly just products I've found really helpful! 

PUPPPs Yoga

I think this about sums it up.

I end up in the Pretzel most myself. 

My other friend...

This is my hairbrush. 

Like the ice packs from a previous post, it also adds to my sanity. AND protects my skin. It is much kinder to my skin than itch-enraged fingernails. I've tried other hairbrushes (plastic with little nubbins on the ends, plastic without the nubbins, 50% boar bristle). Only this one will do. Not too soft. Not too rough. It's 100% boar bristle. Something about thousands of tiny bristles all working together to scratch that unbearable itch makes me sigh with relief. 

I highly recommend PUPPPs sufferers find themselves a good boar bristle brush to save their skin. Spring for it. You'll see what I mean. 

Relief!

See my poll over on the right?

Well, if you answered "other" and have some helpful tips to share, please do!

This post is all about the comments. Feel free to share remedies or treatments that worked the BEST for you! 

Fire away!

Research Blurb

One of the things that is frustrating about PUPPPs is that there is very little research done on it since it is "harmless for mom and baby." Obviously, whoever decided this had never experienced it. We need answers! WHY does this happen?? If we found out why, then we could treat the root cause instead of trying to pacify the symptoms! 

I have a nursing background, so research fascinates me. Whenever I come across research, I'll post it here. But I'll also try to summarize it for the less nerdishly inclined. 

Here is a case report done by some folks at Columbia University:

Read the article here.

It tells the story of a PUPPPs sufferer who developed the rash in the 3rd trimester and had a COMPLETE healing before her pregnancy was over. It only took a week! It sounds like her relief came from a mild steroid lotion (fluticasone) applied a couple times a day. The author was eager to see more docs try Fluticasone, since it was not the typical drug most OBs prescribe for PUPPPs. Now, this was only helpful for one woman. Some doc out there needs to do a follow-up study seeing if it helps lots of women!

However, it might be worth asking your OB about it. 

The article also went into a summary of other research they had combined. Even the author admitted that these factors were "controversial." No one seems confident in them. Here are the high points:

• No relationship to mom's weight gain. (said one study)
• More common when mom gains too much weight. (said another study)
• More common in twins and triplets.
• More common in pregnancies where mom is carrying a boy.
• Possible relationship to high blood pressure in pregnancy.
• Rash is usually not seen on the belly button.

All those points are laughable to me, since NONE of them apply to me, but perhaps they are helpful for another PUPPPs sufferer out there. 

Humor is the Best Medicine...

Oh, how PUPPPs adds to it all...

The only thing worse than PUPPPs would be PUPPPs with a full body cast. Just take me away to the padded room and straight jackets, please.

Ice packs are your friend...

One thing I started with the first round of PUPPPs was keeping a small cooler of ice packs by my bed at night. It was the only thing that would calm the itch when it woke me up. This way I'd be able to go back to sleep faster and get longer chunks of sleep at night. I slept with it there long after the itch was bearable at night, like a security blanket. I recommend at least 5 ice packs to make it through the night. 

Here are a few that I really liked. 

This one is made of clay and had a nice elastic strap to keep it in place after you fall asleep with it on. It stays cold reasonably well.

(Click here for the Amazon link.)

This guy isn't the longest lasting, but I liked that you didn't need to wrap it in a towel. It is also very flexible. 

(Click here for the Amazon link.)

Now, this sucker lasts a LONG time. Rock hard after hours. But it isn't flexible like the others, and you will need to have something between it and your skin, so keep that in mind. Even if you don't use in on your rash, it will keep your cooler super chilly so that your other ice packs are plenty cold in the wee hours of the morning. 

(Click here for the Amazon page.)

I can't over-emphasize what a difference this method made for my sleep! No getting out of bed to take cold showers. No getting out of bed at all! I'd only wake up long enough to crack the cooler lid and slap on an ice pack. Having nursed 3 babies through the night til 10 months old, I can say it's a rather similar amount of sleep. (Not that you need practice at sleep deprivation!!) But sleep equals sanity, and sanity is something all PUPPPs sufferers need in giant helpings! Wishing you all better sleep!