Radiation Therapy and Skin Care
Feeling Comfortable in Your Own Skin: Radiation Therapy and Skin Care
July 03 , 2005 by Kathleen Gorden
By Carol L. Kornmehl, M.D., FACRO
People often think that radiation therapy causes burns of the skin. Although this is true for certain types of radiation therapy, it is not universal. If and when a skin reaction develops, it is generally not until the third week of radiation therapy and is limited to the area that is treated.
Skin reactions, ranging from redness of the skin, darkening, peeling, itching, tenderness, blistering, and ulceration/burns, are more common in people who undergo radiation therapy with a more shallow radiation beam, such as that commonly used to treat skin cancer, breast cancer, and head and neck cancers. However, the more penetrating beam typically used to treat cancers of the pelvis and abdomen rarely results in a skin reaction; skin reactions are occasionally encountered when the chest area is irradiated.
Most radiation therapy is delivered through two or more treatment fields. For example, the chest is often treated from both the front and the back. Spreading the radiation beams to more than one area reduces the likelihood of a skin reaction because each beam is less concentrated than one single beam. However, the use of a single radiation beam, as is common in the treatment of skin cancers, is more likely to result in a skin reaction.
Bolus, a flabby, rubbery material, is used in certain situations to “fool” the radiation beam so it will deposit the maximum dose on the skin surface, instead of a fraction of an inch deeper. Therefore, a skin reaction is almost inevitable in this scenario. Bolus is usually incorporated into radiation therapy for skin cancers and when a surgical scar, such as a mastectomy scar, needs to receive a full dose of radiation therapy.
Radiation Therapy and Skin Care
July 03 , 2005 by Kathleen Gorden
By Carol L. Kornmehl, M.D., FACRO
People often think that radiation therapy causes burns of the skin. Although this is true for certain types of radiation therapy, it is not universal. If and when a skin reaction develops, it is generally not until the third week of radiation therapy and is limited to the area that is treated.
Skin reactions, ranging from redness of the skin, darkening, peeling, itching, tenderness, blistering, and ulceration/burns, are more common in people who undergo radiation therapy with a more shallow radiation beam, such as that commonly used to treat skin cancer, breast cancer, and head and neck cancers. However, the more penetrating beam typically used to treat cancers of the pelvis and abdomen rarely results in a skin reaction; skin reactions are occasionally encountered when the chest area is irradiated.
Most radiation therapy is delivered through two or more treatment fields. For example, the chest is often treated from both the front and the back. Spreading the radiation beams to more than one area reduces the likelihood of a skin reaction because each beam is less concentrated than one single beam. However, the use of a single radiation beam, as is common in the treatment of skin cancers, is more likely to result in a skin reaction.
Bolus, a flabby, rubbery material, is used in certain situations to “fool” the radiation beam so it will deposit the maximum dose on the skin surface, instead of a fraction of an inch deeper. Therefore, a skin reaction is almost inevitable in this scenario. Bolus is usually incorporated into radiation therapy for skin cancers and when a surgical scar, such as a mastectomy scar, needs to receive a full dose of radiation therapy.
Radiation Therapy and Skin Care
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