I introduced myself elsewhere so I won't go into the details but I've just finished my first week of radiation to both sides of my neck and my upper chest. I was looking at the skin care recommendations from my cancer center and they said I should apply cornstarch "liberally" four times a day starting from the beginning. Does anyone have experience with this? Does it actually help? Seems like cornstarch would just dry things out which might exacerbate skin conditions rather than help.

Thanks.

I have never heard of using cornstarch, but there are many things I haven't heard of. I was treated at UCSF Comprehensive Cancer Center and I was told to have nothing on my skin prior to radiation therapy to avoid any bolus (enhancing) effect. I was told to apply anything for the skin afterwards. They make special gels for the purpose, I think it's called Radia Care. As your skin gets dried out, the itching is something to avoid. Why they would recommend something to dry your skin out further is beyond me. They also gave me a steroid cream towards the end of treatment.

Radiation effects:my husbands neck looked like a piece of raw meat after 37 radiation treatments.Then I found the correct recipe and it was perfectly clear in a week !
During radiation Biafine cream or something similar should be used 3 times per day.
If burns occur : mix equal parts 3% hydrogen peroxide and water in a small sterile spray bottle.
Spray affected area, it will bubble and help remove dead skin, gently wipe off with sterile gauze. Apply SSD steroid cream (prescription)then on top of that apply Xeroform petrolatum dressing,we used 5x9 inch which home health care supplied ...cover with more guaze and wrap with self adhesive 1i/2 inch bandage. if possible leave on overnight. during the day leave open to air for a while and repeat each evening. It worked really well for us even the Doc`s and nurses could not believe how quickly it healed.Good Luck and we hope you never have to use it!!

I would like to add that not all of us react to radiation like Marica's husband. My skin reacted just like a common sunburn. It never got raw or weepy as some do. It peeled and then healed quickly. Today it is smooth, tanned and hairless. The radiation killed all of the hair folicles on my neck so I will never have to shave there again. It also took out some skin tags and small moles. My wife is an esthetican and extracted all of the dead folicles (it wasn't any big deal, they practically fell out).

Caution: You don't want to have any petroleum products (or anything else) on your throat DURING radiation (i.e., while you are on the table)-it can exacerbate the skin damage. Apply these products AFTER your daily treatment and on weekends.

The skin cream they gave me for itching was called "Desonide cream 0.05%", I only needed to use it a few times when the itching was too much.
Do not scratch the area!

Another thing. You will have to avoid the sun and wear SPF 30-45 sunblock for the rest of your life (which you should be doing anyway). We are at greater risk for skin cancer, having received a lifetime dose of radiation.

I echo what Gary has said. I have never heard of cornstarch being useful for our radiated skin. I was also warned not to use anything on the skin before treatment. My skin around the neck was severely burnt but that healed within three weeks post treatment. No more blood, no more pain but two years now, people still wonder what has happened to my skin when they are close to me. It looks like a severe sunburn that does not go away. Before healing, you feel very itchy. Gary is right that you should never scratch!

Karen stage 4 tonsil cancer diagnosed in 9/01.

Thanks to everyone for your responses. I suspected that cornstarch was something they recommended to people who were having radiation somewhere where there are skin folds (I think my cancer center sees a lot of breast cancer). I'm finding, as I wend my way through all the information I receive from the various health professionals, that there isn't a organized view on how to deal with the range of side effects. For instance, I am up to eight different "home" remedies (from doctors, periodontists, nurses, radiation therapists, etc., all of whom are reportedly on my "care team") with which to swish my mouth, some of which seem to be in direct contradiction to each other.

In any case, thanks for confirming my suspicion that cornstarch didn't make sense.