Dry skin & wrinkles after chemo?

My skin also looks dry. Face okay. Use coconut oil daily

jenlee and camillegal, here are some resources from the main Breastcancer.org site that should be helpful:

• Skin Care
• Moisturizers: Hope or Harm in a Jar?
• Chemotherapy and Your Nails
• Shiny, Colorful Nails - Safely

I am thinking it might be estrogen production. Chemo whacks at that pretty hard. Our hormones are one of those things that keep our skin supple and smoothe. I am 46 and the skin on my legs post chemo looks like an elephant sagging down. Not a nice look in tennis skirts, lol.

JenLee, honestly I saw your avatar and thought to myself how beautiful you are! You are probably too hard on yourself. I have those wrinkles all over my chin area now too. So much so that during recon, my PS said "Hey, I can take some of the fatgrafting and put it in your marionette lines" UGH!!! I didnt let him... my face is the least of my worries : )



Have you tried coconut oil? It feels great on my skin, and absorbs well. I keep it in the bathroom counter. Shea butter from L'Occitane is another product I love. It's heavy, but again, absorbs right into my skin.

Geewiz, i did the fat grafting before bc, about 3 years ago, and it works great! First week, you'll look all plump and fake, then it gets better. My dr placed the fat on my cheekbones and under my lower lids where my eyes shrunk. It still holds to this day. Bec before, i was so obsessed with constantly losing weight (vanity, vanity, it used to occupy 40% of my life), mu face is the first on to lose/loose before the rest of my body. I would have the weight and body i wanted, but im an old lady in front of the mirror! I tried the platelet rich plasma too, before the fat thing, just looked good for one month max. Not worth it.

bcbarbie...ya know, I never really paid much attention to any lines on my face. I was only 42 at diagnosis. Things were not really in that bad of shape...but now, geez!!! Those goofy lines are the first thing I notice. I have another grafting still to go, maybe I can talk him into it. Holy mackeral, I am going to look like a truck hit me.

"Marionette lines"... what a horribly appropriate way to describe them!!!  I too hate what chemo did to my face, esp. lower face and neck.  I'm trying a retinal A cream, but it will take time.  I also take B-complex vitamins, Omega 3 gelcaps and vitamin D. 

jenlee, I could actually feel the area around my mouth tighten during chemo - like an involuntary series of muscle spasms - after completion of treatment, I noticed that my lips had some deep grooves radiating, and my chin seemed to have sort of collapsed, with deeper wrinkles settled in. I was 51 at start of treatment, slender, fit, healthy, with oily Irish skin, and was always told that I looked years younger than my true age. Well, I am comvinced that chemo changed that. The area above my nose looks fine, no brow lines, mild smile crinckles when smiling, but not apparent when my face is at rest.....but, below the nose looks like a different person - I am not happy about this. I had been told that chemo ages one, and also I am on Tamoxifen for almost a year now, four more years of that. I am consulting with a cosmetic surgeon about my options, the same surgeon who will reconstruct my breasts - maybe I can get 2 procedures done at the same time. I don't know what he may recommend. As stated, I am very slim, not much body fat to begin with, but it seems like the chemo just dissolved what facial collagen that I had. Have you found a satisfying solution to this ?

I was told I had the bones of a 25 year old, but after chemo I was into osteopenia.  I also noticed that the skin on my face lost 'life' for loss of a better word. I now have slight hollows under my eyes where I didn't before.  The skin on my legs used to be taut but now is crinkley on the surface.  I am moisturizing and using a humidifier.  Also, I have a friend who is a smoker and she looks younger than her years, I asked what her secret was and she said she takes daily pre-natal vitimans...haha...  So off I went to the health food store and sure enough I do notice an improvement after a few days on them and watching what I eat & drink.  Drinking alcohol really shows & drys my skin so I only have that on special occasions.  I now be sure to drink water throughout the day to hydrate my body.

 Crystal- I was interrested in the fact your friend looked younger and smoked so i researched Pre-natal vitimins to see what they had in them, Folic acid, Iron, calcium/ I take that along with Vit D but thought this info might be helpful. If you take to much when you are not pregnant can be dangerous. Thought I'd pass it along.

You may be tempted to take prenatal vitamins because of unproven claims that they promote thicker hair and stronger nails. While prenatal vitamins are generally safe for healthy adults, they may not be suitable if you're not pregnant and not planning to become pregnant. Prenatal vitamins are formulated specifically for women who are pregnant or trying to become pregnant, and women who are breast-feeding, with particular emphasis on:

• Folic acid. To reduce the risk of having a child with neural tube defects, women who are trying to become pregnant should get 600 micrograms (mcg) of folate or folic acid a day through diet and supplements. Other healthy adults — both men and women — need only 400 mcg a day. While uncommon, getting too much folic acid by taking supplements can mask the symptoms of vitamin B-12 deficiency and delay diagnosis and treatment.
• Iron. During pregnancy, the recommended intake of iron is 27 milligrams (mg) a day. Women between the ages of 19 and 50 who aren't pregnant need only 18 mg a day, and women age 51 and older and all adult men need only 8 mg a day. Getting too much iron can be toxic because it can build up in your body, causing constipation, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and, in severe cases, possibly death.
• Calcium. Pregnant adult women and healthy men and women ages 19 to 50 all need 1,000 mg a day. Men and women age 51 and older need 1,200 mg a day. Because prenatal vitamins are intended to supplement calcium you get in your diet, they generally contain only 200 to 300 mg of calcium. If you rely on prenatal vitamins to meet your calcium needs, you likely won't get enough, raising your risk of osteoporosis and other health problems.

It's best to take a multivitamin tailored to your sex, age and specific medical needs.

Hi there, new to the site. Was looking for dry facial skin creams and found your post. I have just finished my second of four chemo sessions. One of the most extreme chemos one can have, as i had a lipo sarcome, rare and aggressive (fortunately totally removed), so not really in the breast cancer area, but i believe we all suffer the same. What you said really got me. I know precisely what you meant with aging. I looked at myself in the mirror yesterday and didn't recognise the woman staring back at me. My sunken eyes the hollow cheeks, the dry skin (iused to have oily skin). The wrinkles. I'll be 40 in two week, and 2 and a half months ago when i was diagnosed people always told me they couldn't believe how old i am. Cancer and chemo does so much damage that one doesn't need this too. I am happy to hear that you are doing well. Should you by any chance find a cream you could recommend please let me know.

Stay positive, and all the other cliches that come to mind:-)

Remember prayers do get answered,

All the best

Ezmari

All i know is that i have worked and played in the sun all of my life, and have been a light smoker,too. so, i did develope lymphedema right after surgury. so, i am supposed to lotion that arm, and wear a sleeve or bandages. what i noticed is that the arm i use eucirin,cetaphil, anykind of regular off the shelf lotion looks about 10 years younger than my unlotioned arm. so i started lotioning EVERYWHERE! next step, maybe i will see if a friend who sews will make me a loose kind of mummy bag that loosely follows the contours of my my body that i can snap into before i sleep! only half kidding! but also, have definately ramped up my water consumption, and i found these terrific aloe drinks to super hydrate. anyway, they make me feel like i am doing a good thing for myself. they feel wetter and cooler than water. before bc, everyone thought i was 8-10 years younger. i would tell them it is because i spent several years  slightly pickled!

When I look in the mirror I feel like I have aged at least 10yrs in the time span of 3 1/2 yrs.  You are not alone.  Doesn't matter what brand or how much lotion I use, I still have the lose, wrinkly skin. 

I can understand very well how it looks the skin after chemo.Becuase In my family member also affected the cancer and recovered after complete few chemo treatments. He used after sometime Dermalmd wrinkle reduction cream for his face. Really I can't belief he got his young skin back and looks much much better now.