Radiation - Bras? Creams?

phpound

Hello Everyone! My name is Patty and I was diagnosed with DCIS in April. I had my lumpectomy in June and I just finished 33 rounds of radiation. I know I'm finding the group late but hopefully can help others going through the process. My surgery went fine and so did the first 2 weeks of radiation and then WHAM.......all the side effects......fatigue.....itchy skin and burns. I had 2 second degree burns.....one under my arm (right in my arm pit) and one under my breast -right where your boob meets your chest wall. A couple of things surprised me. First, there is no "standard of care" when it comes to caring for your skin during radiation. My center recommended calendula cream in the beginning and as my skin started to get more irritated Aquaphor. For the itchy skin, I did Domeboro soaks 3-4 times a day and they gave me Lidex to mix with Lotrimin (yes the athletes foot cream stuff). It did help some. When I developed the burns I was given Silvadene. The hardest part for me during this time was using all the cream/ointments and wearing any kind of bra. Even the soft bras rubbed my underarm and the creams got everywhere. They told me to put a non-stick gauze pad on my burns but then you can't really use anything to hold it in place - no tape or anything - - just the bra. The problem was the guaze pads didn't stay in place and because they have square edges, they poked at my raw skin. Plus where one of my burns was ......close to chest wall, most of the soft bras didn't really hold the guaze pad down. So frustrating! I did finally find a soft silicone dressing called Mepilex light that was helpful.......soft and didn't poke. Curious what others have found helpful?? Ointments? Wound covers? Bras??

flashlight

Hi phpound, You have really had a terrible time with the side effects. I had the 2nd degree burn under my armpit. I tried to cover it without luck too. What helped me was Aloe Vera for sunburn. Many say don't apply anything with alcohol, but I applied this many times a day and it helped. It had lidocaine and menthol in it. Then I started to itch and I applied hydrocortisone 1% a couple of times a day and that helped. Silvadene works very well on burns, but what they forget to tell you is that it shouldn't be applied to good skin. It can irritate the areas that are not burned. This is the only bra that I could wear:

https://www.shapewearusa.com/collections/post-surgical/products/clearpoint-medical-cotton-comfort-bra

I used Aveeno skin relief intense moisture repair cream with triple oat complex in a jar after my skin healed. Hope you get relief soon.

gb2115

I didn't have open burns, but I did have a severe allergic reaction that caused a weeping, poison ivy rash over the entire radiation field. I could not wear a bra--it would rub the weeping vesicles on my skin. Derm gave me a vaseline based steroid ointment (to use after treatment, not before). It was greasy so I stole my husband's undershirts and wore them under my shirts. I just wore loose mens undershirts with no bra around the house. I wear scrubs at work, so I went braless with the undershirt under the scrub top. It worked out ok.

edj3

Not a shill, promise, but the AnaOna bras are fantastic the way they're cut--they completely avoid the sentinel node incision. So I wore mine 24x7 all the way through rads.

While I didn't have the kinds of open wounds you guys are describing, my skin got pretty angry. I used MiaDerm (pricey but good) and it helped a lot.

What's truly odd is I have the same sort of rash I got during radiation only it's on my back, same side as the radiation. I suspect it's from scatter although I'm sure my RO and team will think otherwise.

phpound

Thanks! All great suggestions. I hope others going through radiation can benefit from your/our wisdom!

sweetp6217

I also used Miaderm (available on amazon), and I wore sleeveless t-shirts under my scrubs for some time. Couldn't wear a bra.

Ingerp

I used Miaderm the first time around, then discovered that it's mostly calendula cream, which you can order by itself and is much cheaper. I used a variety of things--the calendula cream, Aquaphor, Desitin, . . . . I think it's not as important *what* you use as that you put *something* on several times a day. I'd just grab whatever was closest when I thought about it and slather some on. Re: bras, I bought some front-close bras after one of my surgeries but found them difficult to deal with so gave them away. I used old, soft, cotton exercise bras. It's better to use something you already have if you can. They will likely get stained by the marker the techs use. You can treat yourself to new bras after you've finished treatment. ;-)

penny22

Hi Patty (and everyone), I loved my MAKEMERRY bra.The fabric is so soft and the support is just enough. (I'm a 32DDD/E normally.)

I finished radiation in June and I'm still wearing it every day, it's so soft and comfy.