Radiation Therapy Skin Care

Radiation therapy has many side effects, among them skin changes, fatigue and pneumonitis. The skin changes include redness, itching, burning, soreness, peeling, blisters, or darkening of the skin. I'd like to avoid all of them. Besides using moisturizers 3x a day, it's recommended that you wear loose clothing, use fragrance-free soap, and avoid scrubbing in the shower. Even a washcloth is not gentle enough.

I found an article that lists moisturizers/creams used by a group of patients (Table 8). The most commonly used ones are mometasone, Aquaphor, and Eucerin. I have all three and more.

Clinical studies showed that the prescription steroid cream mometasone furoate works well on radiation dermatitis, so I asked for a prescription. I've been applying the cream twice a day but found out I can refill my prescription only once a month. I received three of the little tubes in the photo. At 2x a day, a tube lasts less than a week. I'm going to have to cut back to once a day to make the cream last longer.

I saw my radiation oncologist today, Dr. Horst (switched over from Dr. Salem who had gone on medical leave), and she said I can also use triamcinolone, another prescription steroid cream. I happened to have a big jar of it from when I had a rash on my arm. I haven't seen clinical studies showing the effectiveness of triamcinolone on radiation dermatitis, so I hope it does work as well as mometasone.

At Stanford I apply mometasone and Eucerin immediately after my radiation session. I've noticed that my chest is slightly red after these sessions. I use a spatula to help apply cream and lotion to my back, which can also experience skin changes.

I'm going to change up my routine. Before bed, I will apply more steroid cream (switching to triamcinolone) and moisturizer (coconut oil with lavender essential oil). In the morning I'll apply calendula cream and moisturizer (either coconut oil or Eucerin). After a shower, I'll use triamcinolone and Eucerin. I'll hold off on using Aquaphor unless my skin gets really dry or worse.

They say it will take at least two weeks before I see skin changes, but I already see redness and darkening of my skin. When my radiation therapy ends, I could see worsening side effects for another two weeks and will have to continue my skin care routine.

Today was session #8. Seventeen more to go.