Radiotherapy burns

frankie

Hi everyone. I’m new here & wondering if someone has gone through something similar. I was diagnosed with grade 1 breast cancer & had a lumpectomy in June 2024. I finished 15 sessions of radiotherapy two & a half weeks ago. I’m quite shocked how severe my burns are near my arm pit. The burns peaked around 5 days ago. I’ve seen the nurse twice in the last week & she has assured me it all looks normal. She suggested applying solugel & keeping it bandaged. The problem is every bandage I’ve tried either slips off or the sticky part irritates my breast. I’m not sure how to get it to stay in place. Not even the bandage that the nurse put on lasted more than 2 hours. Any ideas? Also how long before your burns started to heal? Thanks

MrsMorrisey

Are the burns an open wound? Has the skin broken? 

If not use sudocreme, the zinc has excellent healing properties and then out a fresh chux ior soft cloth to stop it ruining your clothes. 

Slathering it on at night is good and wear an old T-shirt. 

When it’s healed use calendula oil to heal any residual skin damage. 

frankie

Yes the skin is broken, it's starting to peel, so I don't think I can use sudocream. 

Tri

@frankie  sorry to hear about your skin, it sounds really uncomfortable. 

A friend who had been through it suggested putting the cream on and then putting glad wrap over the breast etc during the course of radiation and before putting on a bra. I don’t know if it helped, my skin was very red and a bit itchy but it didn’t break and was more like bad sunburn, so perhaps not as challenging your condition. My nurse added a cream with a small amount of lignacaine towards the end of the treatment and yes, similar to you, towards my armpit was where it was a bit more sensitive. 

It took about 3-4 weeks to settle down. All the best. 

frankie

Thanks for your suggestions. I will try the glad wrap!!

arpie

Hi @frankie, So sorry to see you join our select little 'club' - the one that no-one ever thought they'd have to join.    Feel free to fill us in on your diagnosis, surgery & treatments so far, so we have a fuller picture of what you've been thru so far. xx It can also become a bit of a 'diary' too, to look back on later.   

That's a shame about the burns near your armpit - but that area would be one of the most delicate skin areas, as it is rarely exposed to natural sun, whereas arms, legs, face & chest (if wearing bikinis) would get some regular exposure.  Great that you are having them dressed by the nurses.

When I had my radiation back in 2018 (4 weeks, plus boosters) I was lucky to only get a little bit of skin breakdown in the final couple of sessions .... I was advised to use calendula cream, aloe vera and a cream called BOZ for at least another 6 weeks, as the radiation effects 'continue to work thru' (the skin will feel 'warm' for about this long too)  - until the redness and spots go down.  The Boz (often used for nappy rash too, and has magnesium in it, which helps healing) is quite thick & using the  chux cloth between your skin & clothes (as mentioned by @MrsMorrisey) is what I did too.  I think (from memory) I also made the cloth 'damp' over the BOZ so it stayed in place better. 
A friend who had severe skin eruptions from a different medical condition - also (at the nurse's recommendation) put a thin damp layer of cotton wool over the cream before putting on the glad wrap - as it was 'mimicking' the skin (which has a layer of fat between the actual raw flesh and skin ...)

Back then, the 'Hippy' Pharmacist at the Hospital Pharmacy reckoned straight up Olive Oil was just as good - so I gave that a go as well - it was 'ok'!!  She used to make up a Cold Cream from Rose Water, Bees Wax and Olive Oil that worked really well on radiation burns, but she had to stop making it as all the hospitals had to be able to provide the same 'stuff' and not all were 'compounding chemists'! ...... I found a 'recipe' for that cream below:
https://marsbalms.wordpress.com/2014/10/09/how-to-make-galens-cold-cream/

Silver Dressings are also VERY good for healing broken skin.
https://www.medsurg.com.au/_products/DRESSINGS+++WOUND+CARE/Silver+Dressings-2480.aspx

Take care & all the best xx

frankie

Wow thanks so much for such a detailed response. I’ll definitely check out those products you mentioned x

FLClover

Hi there, I wore Mepitel for my radiation so the majority of my skin was thankfully spared, but the sections where it had peeled off were burnt and extremely painful. My oncologist ok-ed the use of aloe straight from the plant, so I did that every night and every morning so for about a week or so. I kept the leaves in the fridge prior. I also did a saline soak twice a day, right before applying the aloe. The instructions were given to me by the rad nurse. Within 3 days, the skin closed and the pain was gone. The redness also went away soon afterwards, and the scars completely healed. My skin was very smooth after about a month. 

Let me know if you’d like me to send you a pic of the instructions for the saline soak that my nurse gave me. You can get a pot of aloe from Bunnings for about $10. 

Good luck and hope it eases soon 🩷. 

Locksley

@frankie i am sorry you are having pain.  I had terrible burns from radiation. I had a mastectomy on my left breast.   I used meptiel during treatment but I still got burns.  Clothes hurt to wear.   The nurse ended up cutting up a pair of disposable under pants to put over some wadding.  Under the wadding was dermeze cream on my burns that was soothing for a short time. 

frankie

FLClover said:

Hi there, I wore Mepitel for my radiation so the majority of my skin was thankfully spared, but the sections where it had peeled off were burnt and extremely painful. My oncologist ok-ed the use of aloe straight from the plant, so I did that every night and every morning so for about a week or so. I kept the leaves in the fridge prior. I also did a saline soak twice a day, right before applying the aloe. The instructions were given to me by the rad nurse. Within 3 days, the skin closed and the pain was gone. The redness also went away soon afterwards, and the scars completely healed. My skin was very smooth after about a month. 

Let me know if you’d like me to send you a pic of the instructions for the saline soak that my nurse gave me. You can get a pot of aloe from Bunnings for about $10. 

Good luck and hope it eases soon 🩷. 

Could you please share the saline instructions. My radiation therapist also recommended this but wasn’t sure of the water salt ratio. Thanks 🙏 

FLClover

@frankie Definitely, I’ll send it to you tomorrow 👌🏻. It’s very easy to make and practically free. 

smiller

https://strataxrt.com/radiation-dermatitis-treatment/

I used this and my skin held up incredibly well. Once dry it creates a barrier on the skin. It's not cheap but you use a tiny amount each time. My radiation oncologist recommended it. Although it's more helpful if you use it throughout treatment, it's also good for any burns afterwards too. 

Anne65

@frankie So sorry to read of your pain but you have some great tips from fellow members above. Like @FLClover, I used Mepitel film & didnt receive any burns, redness or irritation after my 15 Rad treatments. It was wonderful & I thoroughly recommend it. I know this wont help you but hopefully it will for others seeking advice pre-rad treatment. When I removed the film, I did use calendula cream just to soothe/hydrate my skin as I had been wrapped up like a cryovac chicken for a few weeks!! Good luck & take care xx

Tinks

I had 25 sessions  and at the end my skin broke down too. The radiotherapy nurses asked me to continue with the Sudo cream, I then wrapped the area in glad wrap before putting on as light clothes as possible. The wrap conforms to your skin and also keeps the area from rubbing on anything and prevents your treatment From getting on anything.xx