I thought I'd check the Foram and see if anyone thinks there's any possible benefit or harm in my trying an alternative medicine treatment during radiation therapy. I went to the archives but didn't find anything about this.

A good friend's husband had oral cancer about ten years ago and had radiation/chemo. She writes that "Mike was told it would reduce or eliminate mouth sores if immediately before each radiation treatment he drank a small amount of canola or other cooking oil, swished it around his mouth and then swallowed it slowly so that his mouth and throat was coated. During his entire radiation treatment (7 weeks) Mike did not develop any mouth sores."

This is, of course, totally annecdotal. Perhaps Mike was just one of those fortunate people who don't develop sores. But I'm wondering if there's anything to this.

Finally, is there anything else people have done to reduce mouth sores and the swelling that many people report from radiation?

David R

David, I was told to not put so much as a lotion on my skin before my radiation treatments. I can't imagine the radiation onc would want you to coat your mouth with oil before the treatment. You need to ask the doctors about this, as you don't want anything to interfere with the efficiency of the radiation.
Best of luck,
Minnie

Ditto, my RO even asked what soap I showered with before coming to rad. Never thought about soap but if he had told me that standing on my head would help the chemorad I would have done so.

The dietician at the Comprehensive Cancer Center where I am now in treatment told me to swish a bit of extra virgin olive oil around in my mouth then swollow it She reccomended doing this several times a day but NOT before radiation.

marilyn

I would not take or do ANYTHING before a rad treatment. There are many things that can serve in a bolus capacity and increase the intensity and effect of the radiation, causing more localized damage than it would otherwise.

I was also told not to put anything on my skin prior to treatments. I would think swallowing any kind of oil would have the same effect.
Wayne

I had mouth trays, but still had sores from the scattering of rad. I would wrap my teeth and gums with gauze. This seemed to help alot. The negative was that it caused me to gag, but that always seemed to settle down when I got on the table.

Thanks to everyone who replied so far. I've been traveling and not able to go online until now.

I am checking with my rad/onc to be sure he has no problem with this...but haven't heard back from him yet. I would not do anything extra until I get his okay.

He did tell me not to use any sunscreen that contained zinc oxide or any other metalic particles as this would deflect the radiation. But he didn't mention soaps or lotions. BTW, my dermatologist recomended the Neutrogena 55 sunscreen as not having any metal in it.

I just learned from the woman who told me about this that it was recommended to her husband by head radiologist at St. Barnabas Cancer Center in NJ. But that wasy 10 years ago. I have the doc's name and will contact him to see if he's changed his mind about this since then.

I'll let people know what my radiologist says, and the doctor who first proposed this back in 1997.

Thanks again for all the input. David R

Hi,
Just diagnosed yesterday and given a booklet on head and neck cancer--in the 'eating' bit it suggests COOKING with more oil or butter!
Brenda

I was told that Rob wasnt to use any product for anything including washing clothes that was either perfumed or contained any metals of any description.I bought the whole range of simple products for washing shaving deoderant and shampoo.As to cooking oil,i used to rub that on my skin when i was a teenager to make the sun burn me so i would tan quicker so i dread to think what it would do in your mouth when exposed to radiation.

Thanks everyone for your input. I just heard back from my radiation oncologist and here's what he said: "I've never head of gargling with oil. However, if you'd like to try I have absolutely no objections as I don't see any harm" He then went on to talk about the importance of good oral hygeine, especially rinsing with a mixture of salt and baking soda (1 tablespoon of each in 1 quart of water) four or five times a day to keep the mouth clean and healthy.

Also, I did some more digging and the person who recommended the gargling with oil to my friend's husband 10 years ago was the head of radiation oncology at St. Barnabas Cancer Center in NJ. I am going to try to track this doctor down and see if he still recommends this after 10 more years of experience. I will let people know what I learn. David R