I’m 1 week post radiotherapy. My treated breast is slightly warmer than the other. It’s this normal or shoud I be seeing a doctor and maybe getting some antibiotics?
My treated breast was quite warm after just 2 days of RT but calmed down over the weekend. And then was hot again after final 3 days RT. Nurse was a bit concerned in case it was infection. I wasn’t as it calmed down before.
I feel OK and don’t have a temperature. Breast is just slightly warm now. Also a bit sore/stiff, with some pinkish skin but not bad. Just a bit tired today. Felt quite good yesterday and went for a walk in the snow.
The impact of radiotherapy builds up during treatment and reaches a peak 2 weeks after radiotherapy finishes so symptoms may well get worse after you finish . There is still a risk of your skin getting infected if it breaks down badly after finishing ( that happened to me ) but if you don’t have broken skin that’s probably not the case .
you could check this out with your breast care nurse if you are worried ?
My experience was - a livid red large square on and around the treated breast (it felt as if it was a 1/4 of my upper right torso, but not sure if it was that much in reality ?!), after RT finished, which had gradually built session by session. I recall lying down with a wet flannel over my breast and a fan blowing on it to try and stop the intense burning feeling. The flannel heated up really quickly and I was flipping it constantly over to try and get it cooler again. The nipple area broke down, blistered and was weeping and peeling very badly - and needed steroid cream. I also seems to have loads of dark tiny freckle type spots appear. It took a couple of weeks to become less red and like a fire was burning inside. Over a few months the skin went dark brown and then took over 2.5 years for the brown skin to gradually return to a normal colour. The breast was also swollen (lymphodaema) and firm and 1 -2 cup sizes larger than the other side. I had no infection, just the listed side effects of RT.
I think the ‘warmness’ is pretty standard Jan, although I can’t actually see it specifically talked about in the link above I suspect it is part and parcel of the ‘redness’. I certainly would describe mine as ‘burning hot’ Nothing to stop you asking them though Jan, a quick call
