What ointments work best?? is Nozema a no-no?

After trying four or five different types I settled on Calendula ointment by Boiron. Not cream and not gel. I use it right after treatments in the dressing room.

I also stopped wearing bras and try to spend as much time naked from the waist up as possible. This helps a lot.

Another option is Aloe, kept in the fridge and applied after every rad treatment.  I got through with no issues.  I think it's obvious that you will have to be extra careful while enjoying the FL sunshine.  I went to the Dominican Republic the day after I finished rads and was fine.  Take care...

I get Calendula Ointment at Whole Foods stores, it is the same texture as Aquaphor, maybe slightly lighter. 

Hi,

Just a cautionary note on time ... I'm 11 days post rads to a no recon MX, and I had a significant reaction that didn't really begin until the day before the last treatment, and got progressively worse for the next week (oozing, red, raw, in an area about the size of my first two fingers put together). I had to have moist gauze (with Vaseline on it) on for about a week, and there were a few days it hurt quite a bit. No way I can get near a pool right now. It is healing, but it's been slower than I'd hoped, and was a bit of a surprise given that my skin held up really well the whole way through. Are there other non swim/sum things you do? You will be fine for those, and hopefully you'll not have much of a reaction. Best!

O.K. here goes - the Aloe is a good idea and should be put on at the clinic right after rads - definitely NO NOXEMA.  Also no swimming pool especially because you're dealing with broken skin now - you should probably call the hotline at your cancer clinic this weekend to find out if neosporin is o.k. - I had skin that was black and bleeding over a large portion of my breast and underarm and then three weeks after rads it was mostly healed there is a cream they write a prescription for which I call silverdene but can't remember it's proper name - anyway it worked but was very messy - I wore camis under large shirts when I went out and xxl men's cotton undershirts with the sleeves ripped out when at home or naked from the waist up - the silverdene cream is quite staining so wouldn't be wearing "good clothes" - hate to give you all this news while you're planning a Florida vacation but it is what it is and I vote you go shopping (and eating).  Sending a hug, S.

My experience is that I healed extremely quickly once the skin stopped deteriorating ( one week to the day post rads).  I am two weeks out now and have completely healed with new soft skin that is fading quickly to its original tone.  Experiences differ, but most have an easier time than I had, so do not panic.  I had five or six days of discomfort and still consider that not too bad given the benefit I am hoping the treatment will offer me. 

I scheduled to start 6 weeks of radiation in May. I also have  tropical vacation planned to Hawaii in July. Doc said to stay out of the sun and out of chlorine pools. Don't care, I'm going anyway even if I have to sit in the shade with my big hat and my pretty pink drink.

AKJ:  Precisely!  Do whatever it takes to accommodate your health and keep you happy.  There are so many ways to adjust things to make it work.  There is so much more to a vacation than a pool and you can enjoy the sun with a big floppy hat on. Actually, it is only the radiated area that needs to stay out of the sun.  But just having gone through radiation burn, I will never suffer from another sunburn if I can help it

I read a recent study about skin creams and radiation and skin breakdown and just like the thread "A radiation onc checks in" or something like that, nothing is really going to prevent skin breakdown, however, the calendula cream is stated as the best for soothing skin conditions that result.  Women have also stated repeatedly that pure Aloe Vera is also very good.  Sometimes you can buy a large leaf in an Asian market and use the real deal.  That is what I did.

Just like everyone reacts differently to chemo or any other treatment, everyone is different with radiation also.  I have learnt from this experience that science is far from an exact science, but so far, it is as good as it gets.  And that really goes for everything in life as the more knowledge we gain, things change and differ.  That applies to what we all do as well, from everything like parenting, purchasing cars or our work and careers.  When I think back to the days that we used to keep adoptions a secret even from the adoptee, I cringe.  But it was the best practice at the time. But not buying into the best practice at the time has its consequences too that are also unproven.  That is why I truly believe that deciding to have radiation was the hardest decision of my life.  But no regrets here.

I had 5 weeks of radiation before I started to burn, and then the burning started and got worse and worse over the next 5 days. I had been using Calendula cream after every session. I also took a spray bottle filled with water to  every session and sprayed it on the radiated area to cool it down as immediately as possible. Long story short, I made the mistake of downplaying the slight chafing in my armpit midway through the 5th week.

On Friday Jan 3, 2014, I had a radiation session that completed 5 out of 6 weeks. Over the following two days, the weekend of Jan 4 & 5, the burning began. My right armpit was so badly burned -- not blistered but sort of a dark reddish grayish purplish color -- that on Sunday the 5th I sent my radiation oncologist a picture of it and expressed my doubt about radiation on that Monday. Her nurse asked me to come in anyway, so that they could advise me on next steps. That day she confirmed that there would be an interruption in the schedule and that we would plan to start again on Monday the 13th. She handed me some Vaseline (PETROLEUM jelly - UGH!) soaked gauze patches and a couple of tube tops. She said to get some Silvadene cream and apply it 2-3 times a day. Then put the vaseline-soaked gauze on at night and the tube top over it. Wash the vaseline off each morning so that it would not prevent the Silvadene from penetrating the skin. All of this was seemingly good advice, but it simply didn't work. The burn got worse on Monday, even worse on Tuesday, and by Wednesday it peaked. And, try to imagine removing gobs of vaseline from a large burn. Rub soap on it? Scrub it with a cloth? Run hot water on it? You choose the method of torture. I quickly abandoned that course and began to chart my own.

A reasonably thorough (although pain-wracked) search on the internet on Tuesday convinced me that no one had published how they cracked the code on this problem and that, tragically, some people live in agony with it for weeks. What I needed to do first was to figure out how to stop the intermittent, searing pain that I felt in my armpit (does anything hurt worse than a burn?). I finally took a flashlight and lit up my armpit, moving my arm in every direction. I realized that the un-slathered skin on my arm was dry enough that it was sticking to the burned skin and pulling some of it off every time I moved my arm. So I slathered my under arm with Calendula Cream but I also needed a way to keep from automatically lowering my arm. I took a tennis ball and put it inside the tube top, about 5-6 inches below my armpit. I kept it there night and day for two days. I also took a homeopathic remedy called Boiron's Cantharis 30 (vitamin stores carry it) to start the healing from the inside. By Thursday morning I had stopped wincing and hissing with pain (you know, the involuntary intake of breath) and when I saw my naturopath that day, he recommended a light coating of a mixture of Manuca honey and Alba's Un-Petroleum Jelly (a non-petroleum jelly). I bought both at Whole Foods. All in all, I  regained my sanity over the next 3 days and after a total of two weeks off, completed my last week of radiation without further burning.

I hope this helps someone!!

I also used emu oil that I purchased through Amazon. I didn't have any problems with skin breakdown. The very last treatment I had a very small blister that broke open, but that was it. I did go through some itchy days but even the techs asked me what I was using because my skin held up so well. When I told them emu oil, I got yelled at because I was only suppose to use glaxol. Too bad, I took my health in my own hands and decided to try emu. Glad I did. If you do a search you should find a lot of us who used emu-should be on summer 2013 rads thread. Hope you ladies going through rads are doing well, I know this was harder for me than chemo physiologically but I couldn't live with the "what ifs" if I didn't do it!

I was told no ointment; that ointment holds heat in; to use creams/lotions instead.  I used Calendula Cream that I got on Amazon, along with whatever the Doctor gave me; they were always giving me different lotions/creams.  I think staying hydrated worked pretty well, but you have to stay on top of it, I would put cream or lotion on at least 3 times a day, sometimes 4.  And cool showers, and it was recommended to me to use Dove Body Wash for sensitive skin, which I did.  And if you are going to use Aloe, get 100% Aloe from like a Whole Foods.  Makes a world of difference.  I got a few spots where the skin broke open, I think 2 small areas, but it was almost at the end, and they healed up quickly.