Fading of Radiation Skin Discoloration?

mitziandbubba

I know this is a very superficial thing to be thinking about - but I am actually very happy that I am thinking about silly stuff again like I did before cancer! My skin was not really damaged during radiation but I got a VERY dark tan and I am very fair. I have to say it is mostly faded but you can still see the square line on my chest and of course the boobs are two different colors still. I had some brown dots - lots of them - but they are gone now so I'm hoping. I moisturize like crazy.

I was very lucky not to have skin damage, just that dark tan, but my question is how long did it take for your skin to return to normal? Did it ever return to the way it was before?

mitziandbubba

I am also reminded that I was a very superficial thinking person before this cancer diagnosis. I was joking with a friend that I was so blessed and lucky in my life that my biggest worry in the world was that my beautiful custom curtains were too short and that I could not send them back.

I'm actually a little bit glad that I am back to thinking of silly stuff like a radiation tan and the laundry piling up but also not worrying TOO much. Maybe I am healing.

Hopeful82014

Mitziandbubba, congratulations on finishing radiation. I’m sure when you started it felt a long ways off - it sure did for me!

It’s o.k. to wonder when/if your skin color will be back to normal - who wants a visual reminder of radiation staring us in the face every day?

My skin did not get very dark, fortunately. Rather, was very pink and I had some little reddish freckles. However, it did go back to normal quickly, to the point that when I saw my MO again two months later for the first time after radiation she was shocked.

I did deal with swelling and hardening for some months. Most this was alleviated by time (the swelling) and the hardening by an inexpensive RX of Vitamin E and Trental (which increases blood supply to the area).

One of the tough aspects of radiation is that each woman’s experience and side effects/late effects are so different and difficult to predict. It’s also my experience that ROs tend to downplay both the side effects and the late effects and the advice on dealing within them is rather vague. All that’s by way of saying that your experience may be quite different than mine so don’t feel badly if it takes you a while to get back to normal and your team brushes it off.Years ago it was pretty common for women to be left with discoloration for many years. With today’s vastly improved targeting and precision calculation of dosing, long term damage is much less common.

Go on taking good care of your skin, stay out of the sun as much as possible, and hang in there. You’re likely to find it continues to fade until one day you realize with delight that you no longer see the difference. Good luck with it..

edj3

Hi, I'm still tan. I didn't have any real skin issues with radiation--some redness, some soreness but nothing like a bad reaction. But my left breast is tan. I have a friend who's 3 years out from radiation and she told me her breast is still tan even after three years. It's annoying but oh well.

mitziandbubba

I suppose I should just be happy that my side effects have been minimal. The tan is VERY VERY light. I'm just a very picky person. One of the things I am working on now is letting go of perfectionism!!

In terms of visual reminders - I read that there are artists that will tattoo over radiation tats for free, make them look like freckles. But for some reason the radiation dots don't bug me - I feel like they should but they don't.

My scars don't even bug me, they are already barely visible. My breasts look virtually the same as before minus the tan and the one blue dot I can see. IDK why that tan bothered me so but it is truly faint and I notice my skin looking more normal every time I look at it.

I will hope that it is my only radiation side effect.

edj3

I'm a little jelly your breasts look virtually the same! I hate my left breast now, I always loved my breasts but now it's unnaturally full and perky The incision healed up beautifully, no complaints there. It's the swelling and perkiness I hate. They are not symmetrical, and if I fit one, the other one is either sloshing or busting out.

Definitely superficial but it makes me sad every day when I see my left breast. I guess one good thing came out of this--I know 100% for sure that if I ever do need an MX, I'll go flat. I'd hope to keep my nipples (I do like them!) but the thought of something foreign in my chest oogles me out.

Euphoriaa

I finished rads a month ago, I had no skin problems, just a little red and now a bit tan. But my real problem is the pain that began with my boosts, apparently my scar is just in the path of a tendon that crosses my elbow and reaches my fingers. It hurts and burns. Every day I check for symptoms of lymphedema, there is no swelling in the arm, just a little in the armpit area. My MO says that the pain may take two to three years to resolve. 😫

mitziandbubba

edj, it took a bit for mine to calm down. for a while, my left boob looked was so swollen! and my right one, where I had a non cancerous lump removed, was really quite dented at the lumpectomy site - but it filled in and looks normal now - just less full than before - my breasts are small but quite full and round. Even my husband (who is a sweetheart but this was upsetting) was telling me that I should consider reconstruction!! They were that different. My husband said they were both beautiful but they looked like they belonged on two different women. Now everything has calmed down. My surgeon said I would need to wait a year to see how everything shakes out, so maybe your situation will change?

The funny thing is that my left breast was smaller before and now my right one is. But not noticeable. Even the bra fitter was impressed!

I don't even wear bras a lot of the time but for a while my nipples were two different heights and looked so odd! My nipples always poke out, sometimes I wear those nipple covers. I had to start wearing bras with pads to even everything out. I didn't wear bras during radiation and I accidentally wore a tight top one day and I could see men staring at my lopsided boobs!

Now I can absolutely go without if I want. I only wear the bras that pull on over your head anyway and sports bras.

Eurphorbia, I hope you heal quickly! I know we are not all the same but it took me a while. I ended rads in August and really only in October did things seem normal. I still have a little pain when I wake up, only then b/c I guess I get stiff from sleeping.

TB90

Took a few years actually, but no discolouration whatsoever. Seems like a long time to wait as we want to be back to ourselves as soon as possible. Seems like once you quit thinking about it finally, it’s gone.

mitziandbubba

TB90 that is great to hear! It actually looks lighter tonight than when I last really looked at it.