Okay, this is very difficult to seek advice. My husband had six weeks of weekly carboplatin and paxitaxol beginning in early February. We made love at the end of February and the skin on his penis became raw like it was rubbed raw. He then went through six weeks of radiation IMRT and Erbitux. He certainly wasn't feeling frisky. In any event, the next time we tried to make love, the same thing happened. I see the skin on his body seems thinner and dryer than before, but I never have heard of anything like this. Yes, we did use KY. Boy, is this embarrassing. Anyone have any information to offer?

DCS,

Don't ever feel embarrassed here although I have never seen the topic of your post dicsussed since I've been a member.

I had concurrent cisplatin and radiation and before Tx my wife & I were very sexually active. During the periods where I seemed to be fighting for survival I did not seem to be very motivated and my wife was understanding. I mean I was still thinking about making love but for the first time in my life there were a few more important things ahead of it, like staying alive. I did manage to put all those other things aside occassionally but thankfully I never experienced his symptoms.

About 3 weeks post Tx all those OTHER CONCERNS went away and that part of our life returned to normal. In fact, it was like the first sign that my recovery had officially begun. I can't wait to follow this post.

I typed in "penis dry skin" on ask.com
and also on our google search.
There are many articles about this.try both searches. There is much to read.

DCS, The carbo\taxol chemo dried John's skin out, and the Erbitux rash spread into ears, scalp,and pubic hair and testicles. The other long term problem we had was that it was hard to keep enough liquids going in- especially h20. That in itself will dry out your skin big time. You are probably right that his skin is thin and fragile now and friction will produce irritation. Try having him use a heavy duty moisturizing lotion after every shower [which you could apply ] and maybe one other time during the day. {think of how you care for your hands, etc.] Doing that and drinking as much h20 as he can will probably help this. Amy in the Oz

There are many causes and different circumstances. In one case the person was using Erbitux. In another it was from the skin thinning from chemo treatments, and normal irritation (friction) from sex. I am amazed at how much information there is on this subject. You are not alone! And it is a very interesting read. Still reading. This could be an all nighter!

Isn't this the greatest site? This is a real problem, and you have done many a service, I'll bet, by bringing it up. Please, everybody, never hesitate to ask ANYthing. There will always be someone else out there who needs to know too.