Late flares with skin

Hello Feather 653 

That sounds really painful, and it has been mentioned on here a couple of times.  I think (but your team will confirm) that it is one of the late effects of radiotherapy; not everyone gets this.  Others (I am one) have ongoing tenderness with extremely fragile skin in the area, so much so that I keep a supply of cushions around the house to make me more comfortable when I sit.

But I think you are right to follow this up, having broken skin similar to during treatment is a severe reaction and hopefully your team will be able to help.  Please let us know how you get on.

Irene xx

Hi Feather 653 , I’m almost 8 years post treatment & my skin still gets pretty irritated sometimes. It generally gets a bit itchy & rashy & stings when I go to the loo although I don’t think it completely breaks down as you’ve described. I’ve found I can’t use any of the toilet papers with even the slightest of scents in as they can cause a flare & I still only wash with aquamax cream as anything else, even the gentlest of washes causes irritation. I remember my colorectal surgeon saying the skin that’s been radiated will never go back to how it was, that it would always be akin to baby’s skin & I would probably intermittently suffer from something similar to bouts of nappy rash. I was told to use sudocrem which usually works within a couple of applications. 

I hope that helps reassure you a little & I hope your GP appointment goes well on Thursday.

Nicola 

Hi

My sympathies! I am nearly 4 years post treatment. I recently had a skin flare up on the inside of my thighs that sent me searching for the creams I had used during treatment. It was uncomfortable for a couple of weeks.  I continually battle against very fragile skin in my vagina that is very opposed to intercourse and leads to bleeding.  Gynae try to help but I'm kind of resigned to the fact I will have occasional flare ups from time to time and console myself there is no recurrence of the cancer so far.  I stay away from any soaps and just use epimax. I use estriol cream which helps. Being post menopausal is likely not helping either. Good luck with the GP but you'll probably have better understanding from the oncology team.

Hi there,

I'm just ahead of you Feather - finished my treatment in August 2023 and due a 2 and a half year check up with the oncology team shortly.  Your post and these responses have helped me enormously.

Once everything healed and for about a year / 18 months I was really fine and very comfortable. But in the last year about every 2 to 3 months I will have some sort of flare up which might last a week or so and it always puts me in a panic. It's hard to work out whether it's outside skin or up inside. It's not as bad as the last couple of weeks of treatment but is painful and difficult to deal with. I am constantly aware of the whole area and anxious. As others have said I don't use anything perfumed. I wipe with damp toilet paper or sometimes use water wipes, and use either sudocrem or bepanthen. 

I hope you've been able to get some help this week. 

Unity and validation - so important - many thanks to all.

Linda