Reddit mentions of Intensive Treatment Stretch Mark Butter

1. Basq stretch mark cream or oil Amazon link
   
2. Gift cards to Motherhood Maternity/Pea in the Pod (they're the same company so the cards are probably good at both)
   
3. A couple of Bella Bands (or similar) Web site
   
4. Gift certificates for massage/facial/nails etc, stuff that will make you feel good
   I honestly can't think of anything else that I actually NEEDED early in pregnancy...the baby needs a lot more stuff than I did to be comfortable! I bought a Snoogle and ended up hardly using it at all as I still sleep wedged between four normal pillows, I found it too hard to move around with the Snoogle. Some people love them though!
   

Ugh, I'm sorry to hear about your mom's trouble with methotrexate (though it makes me glad that I passed on it). When you're not dealing with the systemic form of scleroderma, it's tough to figure out what treatment is right, because it's more about alleviating symptoms, and sometimes the side effects of the medication just aren't worth it. Unfortunately it's a rare disease without much research behind it, so there are not as many options to choose from (that insurance will cover, at least).

For the stretch mark cream, I use Basq Advanced Stretch Mark Butter (Amazon link at the end of this post). For one, because I already had it, but also because the skin of the plaques gets very dry, scaly, and tight, so moisture is key. Something like Mederma is great for helping to repair scar tissue, but it isn't focused on moisturizing the skin. And there's no shame in needing stretch mark cream even when it's not related to pregnancy - not all of us are blessed with skin that is super-elastic =)

The exercise roller I used really helped with releasing some of the tightness of the skin plaques (just search for "muscle roller stick" on Amazon, there are lots of options in the $10-20 range). Depending on the size of your mom's plaques, it might be useful. Mine cover the entire front of my right thigh, and were getting fairly hard -- rolling over it for a minute or two a day softened them up within a week or two. <-- This is totally my own experimentation, it may be a placebo effect. I just decided to try it after my trainer recommended a muscle roller to break up scar tissue from another injury, and when I started researching about manual things like this to "break up scar tissue", it turned out that actually does work for injuries, so I figured "why not?".

I haven't personally tried light therapy -- my insurance wouldn't cover it unless I had already tried the methotrexate, which I wasn't willing to do. How it works, though, is that your mom would have regular (weekly or bi-weekly) short doses (a few minutes at a time) in a light box (which would be focused only on the affected areas, not like a whole chamber) at a doctor's office. The light is specific wavelengths to penetrate to different depths of the skin, and the purpose is to break up / release the collagen bundles that have formed. In theory, this would help to relax the skin, leading to improvements in mobility, as well as reduce pain from the tight skin. It won't help the disease, though, so if your mom's scleroderma / morphea is active, new plaques would likely still form. I'm not sure how effective this would be if she has gashes from it - I'd definitely check with a doctor on that.

Good luck to you & your mom! She's lucky to have you taking such an active interest in her treatment, especially for a disease with such limited understanding.

Stretch mark cream: https://www.amazon.com/Basq-Advanced-Stretch-Mark-Butter/dp/B0037W6PJS

Twice a day if ya can. I started using this stuff and its been actively lightening my stretch marks as I get them. It's amazing.

I use some lotion twice a day from Amazon that has helped fade my own. They are hereditary and some will go away in time. But I understand the distain for them.