I feel like a right wimp. I’ve just had the 4th of 6 weekly rads and have suffered from the very first treatment with a burning sensation, heat, redness and some shooting pains in the breast. In the last week I’ve had more redness and the skin over and around my nipple has peeled. I was marched off to see the nurse on Friday and she said the skin has broken down and will only get worse over the next few weeks. I have gel to apply and dressings to do daily. I’ve not met anyone else who has had such a bad reaction and now feel like I’m a total wimp. It’s really knocked my confidence as that breast is also quite swollen and with these bulky dressings on top I feel I am obviously lopsided and must look totally misshapen. In summer clothing it’s hard to disguise. I’m struggling to find any of my bras that are comfortable to wear now. I’m a big girl so going bra-less in public is really not an option and I can’t just hide away as I have work to go to. This is really not like me but I’m just feeling a bit miserable right now and looking for anything to make it better 
Dear weepixie
I’m sorry to read about what you are going through.
Perhaps it might help just to talk over how you’re feeling with one of our Helpliners. They can offer practical information and emotional support. Opening times are 9-5 on weekdays and 10-2 on Saturdays. The number is 0808 800 6000
Very best wishes
Janet
BCC Moderator
Hi Weepixie, I’m sorry to hear that you are having a miserable time. I’m fortunate to not be undergoing radiotherapy, so I can’t offer any advice about that. But what I would say, as general advice, is make sure you drink plenty of fluids and eat lots of vitamin rich foods, with vit C, for healing. So, lots of strawberries, blueberries and fresh salads. I’m sure this will help.
Best wishes
Zuleila
Hi, I’m sorry you are having a bad time. You are not a whimp, I had a reaction when radiotherapy finished, under the breast and rib cage blistered and peeled. I felt a whimp, luckily the GP I saw had experience of being in cancer team. He was sympathetic, prescribed Double Day Gel which had to be put on then a barrier cream on top. Re clothes and bras, I had to stop wearing any bra support, but when I could again I tried the ahh bra type, got the very biggest, and it gave some support.
Hang in there weepixie the rad s/e do get better but you have to perservere. Buy a nipple shield and wear it with the soft sports bras ( cheap in asda tesco etc) that stops it catching on clothes. keep putting on all the cream youve been given. I know all this cos I went through it all including very bad burn under my arm. Its now 6wks since last of 15 rads and my nipple is still very sensitive and is erect and painful most of the time. No amount of pain killers seem to do any good you just have to grin and bear it says onc, sorry.
sorry weepixie my last message sounds a bit hard when I read it back I dont mean to upset you your really not a wimp we have all felt exactly like you do
sending you a big squishy hug and lots of best wishes
Ann_W
This sounds really tough. You are definitely not a wimp - just very unlucky.
Hi Weepixie, I had a burn under breast and the nurse at my GP practice gave me a prescription for special burn plasters. They did the trick stopped chaffing of the burn and healed it. Also found aloe Vera Gel 99% really cooled me down. I had shooting pains like you so took a couple of painkillers about an hour before treatment. Also gave up wearing a bra just light cotton vest and I have big boobs well.
I bought some soft bras from M&S but they were made of a poly mix fabric and made me too hot. The vest tops have support cups in them so give some shape. If you wear very buggy t shirt you don’t need a bra. I personally did not care about what it looked like as comfort for me was main thing however it was colder then and with this hot weather you must be feeling miserable with it. Take care you are two thirds through and hope some of the tips everyone is giving helps. Katy.
I don’t know if this will help but while I was having rads I worse a halter neck bikini top instead of a bra when I went out. It gave me some support, but was softer, and easy to get on and off.
i also had burns under the breast, I found letting fresh air get to it (when I was at home obviously!) helped a lot. Also flannels soaked on cold water then wrung out helped cool it. Finally my rads nurse alshave me some gel pads to apply which helped the healing a Lot.
I had 15 daily sessions of rads (after 6 cycles of chemo), and was left with really bad ‘sunburn’ all over the breast, which eventually peeled off completely, and although my last rads were on the 14th Feb the remaining breast tissue is still hard and a bit swollen. But the worst thing was the open wound that developed from the blistering underneath in the crease. A wound opened up from my armpit to my breast bone and I was back to seeing my BCN every few days for dressings/progress checks etc. When I lifted the breast up it was like looking into a yawn (sorry if that grosses you out, but I’m just trying to give you an accurate pic of what it was like), and I had to wear dressings like sanitary towels to keep it dry. So your reaction is not uncommon.
But my reason for this reply is to tell you that my BCN told me to ask my GP for a script for silver sulphadiazine cream (flamizine). It’s a topical treatment for burns, and my GP hadn’t seen it used for this before, but it was BRILLIANT. It prevents infection and helps the burns heal. It’s prescription only, but definitely worth asking for, so give it a try.
I know that what you’re going through is awful, but try and keep your chin up.
Sending you a big cyber hug. 
Sorry to hear you are going through a bad time. I can symathise as I have exactly the same issues. I have big boobs too and the skin from my nipple down to my ribs is black. I have open sores, not just in the crease but on the underside of my boob. I kept telling the rad nurses during last weeks treatment but they just kept saying this is “normal”. Well it isn’t normal to me! Instead of jumping for joy at finishing my treatment I feel quite miserable. Working in an office with just as many men as women does not fill me with confidence of going to work without a bra (I haven’t gone back yet). My skin is very red and boob very swollen. I ended up going to my practice nurse at the doctors and she dressed it for me. When I went back today it was bleeding, weeping and stinging like mad. She has now given me an antiseptic dusting powder which should stop any further dressings sticking and removing more skin each time it is changed. I will let you know how I get on with it.
One week to go until the end of rads and thought I’d update. I saw the nurse again on Friday and she says I have lost several layers from the skin over most of the breast. It’s all a bit sore. There is now a kind of moist hole where the nipple should be. She assures me this is still what they would consider a ‘normal’ reaction but also cautioned that it will probably still get worse over the next 2 or 3 weeks. The skin in the crease under the breast has also split now and needs dressings that look like jumbo sanitary towels, all very fetching with the nice floaty tops I’d planned to wear in this hot weather. I’m also not enjoying not being able to de-fuzz the armpit or use any antiperspirant in this heat. I’ve had to get some bra extenders as none of my bras fit now. Boob is red and very swollen.
I will start to see the practice nurse at my GP surgery during the week and they will take over ‘boob watch’ from next week. I can just about manage the dressings myself but need someone to check on progress every few days. I will see the radiotherapy nurse again on Friday right after my last treatment and she is also arranging for me to see my oncologist and he can hopefully prescribe something to help with the healing once the treatment is over. For now all I am allowed to use is the hydrogel. They don’t approve of aloe vera or anything else during treatment. I hope it will not get too much worse and in a few more weeks it will all be a distant memory. If it’s been effective in blasting some cancer cells it will have been worth it.
Hi Folks
All this sounds very scary as I am due to start my rads on 29th July! I had a WLE on right breast with immediate recon on both sides on 5th June. It has all healed well although all the joins are sore at times and its all quite sensitive. In terms of wearing bras I did order loads of soft ones for post surgery but the ones I would highly recommend are the Genie Bras. They don’t chafe, have no fasteners and best of all have a removable inner pad that protects sensitive nipples. Before surgery I was a 42 D and would never have been able to wear anything so flimsy (I thought ) but they have been a godsend particularly in the recent hot weather. They sort of hold it all together and no pulling especially underneath where the scars are. You’ve feel supported. Best of all you can get 3 for 19.99 if you shop around.
After hearing everyone else’s experiences on here I’m a bit more worried than I would otherwise have been! I suppose it affects everyone differently but I’m glad I didn’t yet go back to work as I can see myself alternating between bra on and bra off several times a day ! You can’t very well be sitting in a meeting and sliding your bra through the sleeves of your blouse cos it’s become uncomfortable, now can you?! 
Take care everyone …it will all be a distant memory soon
JF xx
HUGE HUG XXXXX
I had very bad burns, too, like JayBee and Vicowie. It’s unbelievably vile and you are not being a wimp.
Much as with chemo and oncologists, it is so bl***y enraging, when in a state of acute physical and mental distress, to be told by people who have not suffered what you are going through that it is normally well-tolerated and that you shouldn’t be complaining.My radiotherapy nurse was really not very helpful, despite my oozing wounds, and I was not prescribed any of the things mentioned above, just told to keep cleaning it with saline solution, and given silicon dressings.
Breast cancer trreatment is just one long cascade of physical and mental torture and there is no ‘right’ way to deal with it.
If you’re not actually spending most of the day curled up in a foetal position, howling and banging your head against a wall, then you’re ahead of the game, it seems to me…
My RT finished on June 11th, the burns got worse for sa week after that, and then it gradually started to heal. Took about two weeks to heal completely.
On the plus side, it has really faded the scar on my nipple from the WLE, and the scar from the SNB, both of which are now barely noticeable.
Hi Aloe Vera gel but it must be 100% and apply it regularly. Also drink it as its available from health food shops. Sadly you are late on on your treatment to stop the symptoms all together but it will help and really cool down the burning. You can get a good quality gel on the net. It really bothers me that noone recommends this, my radio therapists know it works but are not allowed to promote it and are told to recommend aqueous cream which has not benefit whatsoever ever.
Hi weepixie…all I can add to everyone’s fantastic advice is to used cooled, boiled salt water to bathe the most sore areas…worked a treat for me last year especially for the 4 or so weeks after RT when the burns actually looked/felt worse. As for bras, I found some lovely bra tops in Sainsbury’s and M&Co that are totally smooth and have little pockets with lightly padded inserts for extra support…I am a larger breasted lady and found the XL very comfortable. So much so that I wear them most of the time now!
I used pure aloe vera gel with great optimism and confidence for 2 weeks before and throughout radiotherapy, having been told by a chemo buddy that she had done so and not burned at all, and it made absolutely no difference whatsoever. It does NOT work for everybody.
I still burned horribly.
My considered opinion now is that if you’re going to burn, you’re going to burn, and it’s a lot more to do with genetics than anything you may use to try and prevent the burning.
I’m inclined to agree that not much seems to help with preventing burning, I guess it is something you are predisposed to. I’ve heard from ladies who used all sorts and still have bad burns but most who use nothing at all are fine. My oncologist told me this and said from his experience the only thing he could say was that the more well endowed ladies had a greater tendancy to the most severe end of the scale as far as side effects from rads go. That should have been my clue!
This is my last week now, roll on Friday and hopefully after a few more weeks it will all be history
Dear all,
So sorry that so many people have had such horrid experiences. This illnes just keeps giving! I’m 5 rads out of 15 into treatment. Touch wood so far so good. I was advised to keep the aqeous cream in the fride and this is really helpful for cooling buring booobies! I too bought some ‘fake’ genie bra’s from the ASDA. They too are ike a tank top with a removable padding inner. Very comfy. What i will say is that I have spent a small fortune on bra’s - non wired, tank top and on and on!!!
Good luck all. I don’t think the word wimp and cancer go together at all - it such a ride so please do not be hard on yourself weepixie.
Deb xx
Weepixie time is the only healer. I am also big busted and went through 2 months of hell with my burns.
I tried everything and the only thing I can add to all the above suggestions is this…
dont let skin touch skin I bought 6 gents handkies from the market and kept them in the fridge. When I came home from RT
I would put one under my breast and leave the bra OFF.
Hope this helps