Dry skin after chemo and radiation treatments: Anyone else?

@mark1961
This product isn't some luxurious product. It's very greasy but effective.

“It has been in production since 1899. The formula was purchased by John L. Norris from a Wells River, Vermont, druggist sometime before the turn of the century. Originally, it was used for only cows' udders, but farmers' wives noticed the softness of their husbands' hands, and started using the product themselves.”

Here's a link
https://www.google.com/search?q=bag+balm&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari
Jake

Mixing drops of calendula oil into unscented Cerave lotion helps for me. I’m still really dry, but not quite as flaky & itchy.

I have a dear friend going through treatments and she is using the Cetaphil cream that comes in a big tub. You can get this at Walmart. I hope this helps.

The patients at the Cancer Center where I volunteer have recommended Profoot Heel Rescue Foot Cream, which is a thicker formulation. It's unscented and takes a bit of time to fully absorb into the skin.

Welcome Pei-Yi Kim. I noticed that you wished to post a URL with your post. You will be able to add URLs to your posts in a few days. There is a brief period where new members can't post links. We do this to deter spammers and keep the community safe.

Please allow me to post it for you:
- Profoot Heel Rescue Foot Cream https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CKKQWSN/

Jake,
I too entertain the use of Udder Balm both regular & medicated (for the nasty cold sores on the corners of my mouth after radiation. Works better than anything else in my humble opinion.
Good recommendation Sir!!!!
Living the Dream,
Lori,
2 times cancer survivor (I hope).

Chemo and radiation made my skin very dry and flaky. It took a couple of months for my dead skin to go away, so be patient, drink water constantly to hydrate your skin from the inside out, and avoid wearing dark colors for a while. My irradiated breast developed scabs and even more flakiness weeks after radiation ended. On the upside, chemo also attacked sun damage on my skin; it either faded or dried up and fell off. Sitting in a warm bath to which I added a carrier oil both washed off the flakes and moisturized my skin. I was a dedicated sun worshipper in my youth, so I was most worried about skin cancer until I got breast cancer. Chemo attacked my breast cancer (I hope) AND pre-cancers like actinic keratoses on my skin.

My skin was dry during treatments however, I used Nutragena for cleansing and my oncologist provided me with lotion. Proper use of the lotion was critical!
But as we look at our skin we also need to know whether our skin is dry or is it dehydrated or both?
Do a skin pinch test to see if your dry or dehydrated. If you pinch the skin and it wrinkles up and doesn’t fall quickly back into place then you’re dehydrated.
Either way I would suggest drinking plenty of water throughout the day as well as trying an ancient skin care product….Virgin olive oil!
Too much is not better so just try a small amount on a small area and see the results.
You can even mix it with your skin cream.
Also, though topical is proven effective for skin, ingested also has health benefits.
Some people in the Mediterranean drink a 1/4 cup of olive oil per day…I’m not saying to do that but studies have found that a tsp per day has been beneficial to heart, blood and digestive systems.
I have been giving my dogs a 1/2 tsp per meal for years. In a dog it’s not only good for heart, blood and digestion but also for joints, skin, hair and olfactory!
Though I can’t find human studies for the same results, why would it not work the same way for human ingestion ?
But I would ask my doctor first as it is fatty!

Hope this helps and please let me know if you try it!

MOJO

I just finished radiation and chemo. I used CeraVe during and Aquaphor after. Right after I stopped radiation the burns were very bad. I under that's common. That's when I switched to Aquaphor. My nurse also gave me some Vaseline soaked gauze wraps that were wonderful. Put those on over the Aquaphor. I wrapped a piece of cut off t shirt fabric around my neck to keep it all in place and it worked to heal quickly.

I used “Udder Balm” for my baby’s diaper rash & it worked. A friend of mine who owned a restaurant turned me onto it. Her hands were constantly in water, so she would rub it on her hands at night & then put rubber gloves on. It stinks though! One thing I might try is olive oil rubbed in. I had a foot surgery that wasn’t healing & and my Dr referred me to physical therapy. At the end they would do a foot massage with olive oil. My feet haven’t been that soft since I was a baby. It does smell better than the udder cream. They do sell the udder balm as a hand cream, maybe that one doesn’t smell so bad.