i have read two reports on line that say volunteers with healthy skin applied aqueous cream and left it on for 10 minutes twice a day for four weeks and after that the skin was 12% thinner!!! Apparantly it contains a detergent. The researchers recomend liquid parafin instead or european creams that do not contain SLS.
NICE guidlines for excema are not to use aqueous cream. Ok so we have rad burns not excema but it is food for thought. Perhaps one of the ladies on here that seem to do such good research might have some insight into this
I heard these concerns from my Radiographer in March during my treatment.
She told me it was being put on the agenda for their Confernece this year. I’m not sure when this is/was.
After my RT I had to go & see my diabetic nurse; she prescribed me a cream called Diprobase which they now use for dry skin etc rather than aqueous. But she did tell me to use it as a shower-cream. It would wash off I suppose but still moisturise my sore/peely nipple.
Did the trick; all now well except the odd bout where my underarm swells. A bit of fluid build up which could go on for sometime.
i too used diprobase throughout 20 rads and still am now 2 weeks later. had a couple of sore,blistered places towards the end of treatment but my skin now looks better than id did pre rads.(apart from looking tanned) i also did use bio oil on a couple of really stubborn dry patches as the diprobase just soaked straight in.
Well thats a shocker Id love to see these reports as they have been using this cream for rads for years now surely if this was true it would be on the NOT TO USE LIST that they tell you about (yes creams that thin the skin) So why isn’t tht Aqueous cream on that list jeeees we might as well be using cooking oil
I never used aqueous creams but used radiance skin care gel from the Penny Brohn cancer centre. It is expensive but one pot saw me through three weeks rads. I had no skin problems only a slight itchy patch a week after finishing for which I was prescribed hydrocortisone cream. Maybe I would have been fine anyway but I would swear by the stuff. It is available by mail order on their website. The ingredients are listed as:
Contains: Aloe Vera, Honey, Royal Jelly and a blend of essential oils.
Specific ingredients: Honey, Royal Jelly, Aloe Vera, Lavendar, Camomile, Rose, Jasmin, Natural Preservatives. (Contains no metals).
honey–that is interesting. There was once a fashion to dress wounds in honey to promote healing, I remember buying my mother in law some special honey gel once for ulcers on the legs and she thought it realy helped
thank you OAL for the links if this being the case I wonder why we are told to use the stuff I feel quite cross now surely if this cream thins the skin its asking for trouble … might aswell stuck my boob on a hot plate ! OK im not so sore at the moment but looking at it when any of the family see it they wince holding their faces saying it just looks so painfull
am sure i read somewhere about manuka honey dressings being used for rads areas that had cracked think honey is a great all sounder for lots of probs x
d’you know, cooking oil sounds like a good option!!! followed by honey for desert! How crazy is all this? Been told ONLY to use acuqeous cream (OK, that was Dr Numpty, so I don’t trust him), I bought something that had no lanolin in but that cooled the skin… think I’ll take it with me and see what they say! BBQ’s boob tonight anyone? Marinaded in honey! Sorry… feeling daft!
Buzzy, the answer is simple - BECAUSE IT’S CHEAP!!!
Lots of people on rads swear by Holland & Barrett’s 99% aloe vera gel. I’ve got a tube and will be using it twice a day in the run-up to rads and then during and after, in a bid to preserve my skin. Useful to know about Diprobase for washing, I’d forgotten about that! Must ask my daughter to get my GP to prescribe some for me when she goes on Friday.
thought i would try and get my old crepey skin into some sort of condition before the rads, my head is going round and round with different products. spotted an offer for bio-oil on amazon 200ml for £10.44 free delivery and thought i would give that a go. You never know I might break a habit of a lifetime and use it on my neck and face, always been far too lazy to moisturise and faff about with myself. If the nurse says it is a no go during the rads i will think again, but i am not getting aqueous cream. (bother research shows aloe vera no different to clear gels for radiation burns)
I used aloe vera a lot during rads treatment. I used it after my session when I got home so I could slap it on & let it “drip-dry”. Told my OH I needed private time as I stretched out on my bed topless. Wouldn’t want him to have got the wrong idea! Too tired.
I even bought the plant for 100%. Radiographer told me to break off a bit & spread it all over. Seemed to help but decided to use tube; now plant is taking over; perhaps it was a trifid! I normally kill houseplants but this one keeps on coming. Supposed to be really good for bites/rashes etc.
Hope all goes well with your rads treatment. I was surprised how quickly it went. Not that I’m complaining; glad it’s over.
Where did you read that Aloe gel is no better than others for burns? I was surprised to hear that as it’s what they use in OZ, New Zealand and the USA.
One of my friends is a Radiologist in NZ and she advised me that Aloe is the best treatment. Even more moisturising is Aloe Propolis Creme. A bit pricy but it worked like a treat when the skin was peeling off my feet during chemo.
Hope you are all feeling better.
Mekalar, hope you are having a lovely day and celebrating the end of your Rads.
it was in a book on line called radiology skin care --this is what it said… there was also another discussion saying it was good for burns but not for those from radiation therapy, but i canot find that now
NCCTG; 1996 (1990-1991, 1992-1993) PMID 8892458 – “Phase III double-blind evaluation of an aloe vera gel as a prophylactic agent for radiation-induced skin toxicity.” (Williams MS, Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 1996 Sep 1;36(2):345-9.Related Articles, Links
Randomized. Breast cancer patients. Two separate randomizations: Trial 1 (n=194): Arm 1) aloe vera gel vs. Arm 2) placebo gel. After negative result, Trial 2 (n=108): Arm 1) aloe vera gel vs. Arm 2) no treatment. Minimum RT dose 50 Gy. Gel applied BID on starting RT. Skin dermatitis scored weekly by patients and health-care providers
Outcome: Trial 1: no difference between aloe vera gel and placebo. Trial 2: no difference between aloe vera gel and no treatment
Conclusion: Aloe vera gel (and placebo gel) do not protect against radiation-induced dermatitis
