Skin Care For Cancer Patients & Survivors

If you have, or are now going through cancer treatments you know what havoc it reeks on your skin.  I remember my skin literally peeling off when I tried to shower. In fact, at one point my mother took me to a spa as a treat. The plan was to get my hair cut and eye brows waxed. For some reason no one mentioned to the salon that I was undergoing radiation and chemo therapy. Because I looked like a cancer patient the esthetician asked me a very important questions, "do you have cancer and if so are you undergoing treatment?" 

Well the answer was of course yes and that's when I realized what a huge disaster I had just avoided. If I had gone through with the eye brow waxing I would have lost all the skin along with any eyebrow hairs I had. Read more about this on my former post: Note To Self: Do NOT Wax Eyebrows When Getting Chemo.

So what should you be doing to take care of skin during and after cancer treatments?  Skin can become very dry after treatments and that means the focus should be on hydrating the largest organ in your body.  There are several ways to keep skin hydrated so as to avoid lines, wrinkles and that sickly yellow skin color.

1) Drink plenty of water and eat raw fruits and vegetables high in anti oxidants

2) Try 100% chemical and preservative free moisturizers like Dr. Beckers 

3) Avoid invasive or harsh facial services and replace them with light massages.

4) Use products that are similar to your skins own natural oils. Squalane moisturizers are great as they the finest, most delicate moisturizers available in the world.

If you have any tips or suggestions please leave a comment