Moist Desquamation After Radiation

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Nickel103
Nickel103 Member Posts: 42
edited October 2019 in Radiation Therapy - Before, During, and After

I am 3 weeks post radiation treatment today (25 sessions). For two weeks my peeling has been turning into these patches of oozing missing skin. I have been using the silvadine cream and am keeping the trouble areas (on breast and armpit now) covered with non adhesive pads all day.

Does anyone have any insight into how common this is? Or how long it will take to finally heal? I feel like my radiation oncologist did not even mention this as a possible side effect, and it seems like most women just have peeling without moist desquamation. So I'm pretty shocked that this is happening and am surprised by how extensive the affected area is. Any insights appreciated!


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  • runor
    runor Member Posts: 1,798
    edited November 2017

    Not sure if mine was the same..but my skin would get a little blister. THat blister would get bigger and bigger and soon the skin would look like a balloon that has been over-inflated. It would peel off leaving raw, weepy, very sensitive skin below. It was ugly, it was painful and it smelled bad! The smell under my boob, in the fold, where no air or sunlight gets .... it was bad. How could it not be? Dead flesh!

    Every night when I took my bra off, yikes, the weepy flesh would weld itself to my bra and there was ripping of flesh. I was NOT a happy camper.

    every night I sprayed my boob with salt water. This is what they told me to do at the clinic. Anything else I put on, including aloe, burned like the dickens. Tried emu oil. Burned. Salt water in a spray bottle was all I could tolerate. Have no idea what good it did, if any. But I would spritz on a light mist of salt water each night and let it dry.

    To stop the sticking I found an old tube of diaper cream (Zincofax), slathered a thick layer on a piece of gauze and stuck that gooey surface against my under-boob raw flesh. It stopped my bra from sticking to me. It did not burn. But it will never wash out of my bra!

    Sorry this is happening to you. It was pretty miserable those two weeks after radiation was finally done. Now it's lymphedema and ongoing pain. Joy.

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  • AmusingSoprano
    AmusingSoprano Member Posts: 114
    edited November 2017

    I get so angry when I see women like yourself having to suffer through this when there is a solution that works for most women. I know it won't help you now Nickel, but for anyone else reading this thread please look into the use of Mepitel film. This treatment was developed by the RO who did my breast care during rads so I was in excellent hands. I had slight reddening of the skin and that was all. All women at my hospital are treated with the film, which stays on from the moment you start rads till about 7-10 days afterwards. We also use cold cloth compresses 3-4 times per day.

    This is the University press release: https://www.southerndhb.govt.nz/news/media-releases/breakthrough-helps-breast-cancer-patients/

    This is the PubMed abstract: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24486117

    This is the Honours thesis that my RO wrote on the original trial:

    https://ourarchive.otago.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10523/5458/SutherlandAnnieE2014BRT%28Hons%29.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

    I am happy to answer any questions about it and if there's anything I'm not sure of, I can ask the RO directly.

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  • DodgersGirl
    DodgersGirl Member Posts: 2,382
    edited December 2017

    Nickel103-- you sure described where I am now. Last week, I was getting seen by the skin care nurse after rads because the area in my armpit was weepy and smelled so bad that it made me want to pass out when changing clothes. She would clean the area and apply aquaphor and Radiagar then apply Tefla pads to cover the area. I was getting thru that fairly well, minor pain.. then we had a 4 day break for Thanksgiving. These 4 days have been the worst times of any of my treatments. The weepy/oozing area is much larger. It smells awful (dead skin) and really hurts. We have been applying the stuff like the nurse at home. Everything I wear gets soaked and smells. Thursday morning i took off the Cool Magic pad that the nurse had applied and pulled off skin which caused me to bleed - thought I was going to spend Thanksgiving in the ER

    I have 4 more rads to go and don't know how I am going to get through them plus the 2 weeks after

    I hate the oozing and the smell and hate worrying about pulling off new skin.

    /end of my rant.

    Updates: 1 week after rads and the weepy/oozy part has healed. Almost all new skin and no old skin coming off. Down to 3 small spots that are still healing but also much better!!

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  • Nickel103
    Nickel103 Member Posts: 42
    edited February 2018

    sorry I have not written back in a while. Update - it took nearly 3 months for total healing where I could discontinue use of silvadine cream and telfa. Unreal! I’m most upset that my radiAtion oncologist at MsK never indicated it could go on so long. As a patient I really like to know what to expect ahead of time, and was really disappointed my medical team let me down here. Hope you ladies are all past oozy-skin now!


    I really wish I had heard of that film prior to my treatment. Hope it becomes standard of care soon.

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  • DodgersGirl
    DodgersGirl Member Posts: 2,382
    edited February 2018

    Nickel103– so sorry that it took 3 months for your skin to heal. Glad you are better now!

    I think my RO knew my skin would break down and knew they would treat it when it happened so didn’t give me all the details in advance as there was nothing I could do to prevent it. I think the treatment I received (bolus) was supposed to kill the outer layers of my skin taking any lose cancer cells with it and then grow back new non-cancer skin. It was an unpleasant few weeks for sure. Glad it’s in the past and hope the treatment worked and cancer doesn’t return

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  • Walden1
    Walden1 Member Posts: 202
    edited June 2018

    I’m starting radiation soon and would like to use Mepitel. The hospital doesn’t oppose it but doesn’t administer it either, so I will need to teach myself how to apply it and use it correctly. Are you aware of anything on line that I could refer to?

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  • seawell
    seawell Member Posts: 58
    edited October 2019


    Hello fellow breast cancer warriors...so grateful I just found this forum. I'm 9 days post radiation following lumpectomy and 4 rounds of TC. I made it thru 20 doses of radiation but 2 days later all hell broke loose. I have large breasts so underneath and under my arm are a hot mess. I used avocado based cream 3 times daily during treatment and my doctor said my skin looked great. I guess I had a delayed reaction but am grateful it didn't interrupt treatment. The pain is bad.... but the smell has me the most concerned and feeling disgusting so I'm relieved to hear others mention it as part of the process. I've been searching the internet for days to try and find out if that was normal.
    I'm still using the avocado cream twice daily and my doctor told me to soak with Domeboro 3 times daily for a week. I'm also somewhat disappointed at the lack of support from him though. I wasn't prepared for this. Once you finish treatment, that daily support goes away making this a challenge. Glad I found this group.

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  • TB90
    TB90 Member Posts: 992
    edited October 2019

    It is very typical for the worst symptoms to occur two weeks post radiation. But it improves quickly after that. You are probably at the worst and it will only get better. Aloe Vera, pure, gel, worked the very best for me. You may need an Advil too. I felt like I had a very bad sunburn. And the worst was that I went back to work for the worst of it! Each day may be an improvement for you now and congratulations for getting through this.

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  • Moderators
    Moderators Member Posts: 25,912
    edited October 2019

    Dear seawall,

    Welcome to the BCO community. We are sorry for what brings you here but so glad that you reached out for support and helpful information. We hope that you get relief and that you stay active here and get connected to other members who share your experiences. Keep us posted and let us know how things go for you.

    The Mods

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  • DodgersGirl
    DodgersGirl Member Posts: 2,382
    edited October 2019

    seawell, for me the skin breakdown was the worst SE I had to endure. Hope your recover quickly. I had to cover the “mess” with a cream from my RO mixed with aquaphor and cover that mess with tefla pads to protect it and my clothes. Did this for a couple of weeks while new skin grew in. Now that part is just a memory and regular skin is all I s

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  • seawell
    seawell Member Posts: 58
    edited October 2019

    Thank you ladies. I so appreciate the reassurance. 💕

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  • Whatjusthappened
    Whatjusthappened Member Posts: 283
    edited October 2019

    I had some nasty desquamation reactions, especially from the 8 bolus treatments I received at the end. It did smell bad. My RO's office gave me xeroform pads that I changed out a couple of times a day. The worst of it healed up after a couple of weeks. I still have a small spot on my collar bone that hasn't healed up four months out. We're keeping an eye on that. I hope you have seen the worst of it and heal up soon!

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