The truth about PUPPP, Pruritic Urticarial Papules and Plaques of Pregnancy, is that is it very irritating and very uncomfortable. The intense irritation caused by PUPPP can affect women during pregnancy and during postpartum. The symptoms are the same in most cases and no one who has experienced PUPPP has reported a pleasant experience with it.

To date, there is no scientific proof to explain why women get PUPPP. It has been said that women get PUPPP as a result of getting stretch marks during pregnancy. PUPPP supposedly only occurs around the stretch marks of pregnant women who gain a great amount of weight during pregnancy. It normally begins around the third trimester, which is when the abdomen has stretched the most. It is rare for PUPPP to begin after the mother has given birth.

It has also been stated that PUPPP is the result of male DNA acting as a skin irritant and causing PUPPP. This is said to be the reason why women who carry boys develop PUPPP. This would make sense if only women carrying boys were affected by PUPPP. Because women who carry girls get PUPPP as well, this does not seem to be the true reason why pregnant women get PUPPP. A reported 70% of the women who develop PUPPP carry little boys.

PUPPP starts on the abdomen of the pregnant mother and spreads to the rest of the body. PUPPP spreads as a result of an allergic reaction to the rash. It has been reported that PUPPP covers everything but the face, the sole of the feet, and the palm of the hands. As the pregnancy progresses, the rash intensifies and gets worse.

Because pregnant women have to limit the kind of drugs that can be taken and the topical solutions that can be used, it is difficult to treat PUPPP while pregnant. The same applies to postpartum mothers who are breast-feeding. Most treatments while pregnant only provide temporary relief. If a mother has delivered and is not breastfeeding, she may be able to take stronger drugs like steroids to get rid of PUPPP.

While there is not a lot of information on the web about PUPPP, there are blogs that post topics about PUPPP. Pregnant women use these blogs to share their stories about PUPPP and seek advice from others who have suffered from PUPPP. On these blogs, you can learn a lot about what treatments have worked well and which ones have not.