Sexual intercourse and radiotherapy to the pelvic region | Radiotherapy is an effective treatment for many cancers, but it can cause side effects. People react quite differently to radiotherapy, and some people may have no side effects. There are many factors that impact the type and severity of side effects, so it’s not unusual if your side effects are different to someone else having treatment. Side effects vary depending on the part of the body being treated. Reactions can also change from one period of radiotherapy to the next. Before treatment begins, talk to your radiation oncologist about the possible side effects from the treatment. During your course of treatment, tell your radiation oncologist, radiation therapist or nurse of any side effects you notice. These can usually be controlled with the right care and medicine. Most side effects go away in time. Other less common side effects may be permanent, and some may not start until after treatment has finished.

If you have severe side effects, the doctor may change the treatment or prescribe a break in your course of treatment. However, this may not be possible if your doctor thinks pausing the treatment could affect how well it’s working. Check with your doctor. Always ask your radiation oncologist before using any medicines, home remedies or creams to ease side effects. Some of these remedies can affect how radiotherapy works in your body. During radiotherapy, your body uses a lot of energy dealing with the effects of radiation on normal cells. Tiredness usually builds up slowly during the course of treatment, particularly towards the end, and may last for a few months after treatment finishes. Many people find that they cannot do as much, but others are able to continue their usual activities. Good nutrition during radiotherapy treatment helps you remain as well as possible and get the most from your treatment. You may be advised to maintain adequate nutrition to complement how well the radiotherapy is working.

Some people lose interest in food during radiotherapy. This can depend on where on the body the radiotherapy is targeted.How Much Does It Cost To Drywall A Small Bathroom Radiotherapy may make skin in the treatment area dry and itchy. Weight Loss Submit Guest PostYour skin may peel and look red, sunburnt or tanned. Real Estate For Sale In Ocala National ForestYou may need dressings and creams to assist healing and make you more comfortable. Some of the radiation passes through your body and out the other side, so the skin in that part of your body may also be mildly affected. These reactions fade with time. If you have hair in the area being treated (e.g. scalp, face or body), you may lose some or all of it during radiotherapy.

Your hair will usually grow back a few months after the treatment has finished. Sometimes hair loss is permanent. In general, you will only lose hair in the treated area. However, when tumours on the face are treated, hair on the back of the head may be lost due to small amounts of radiation passing through the head and out the other side. If you have radiotherapy to your stomach region, you may get an upset stomach. This problem will usually get better when your treatment session is over. However, some people feel queasy for a few hours after external radiotherapy. For more information, talk to your doctor or nurse or call Cancer Council on 13 11 20 for information on eating well. "At first I couldn’t think about eating without thinking about throwing up. Drinking ginger beer helped control the nausea." - Simon If you have radiotherapy to your stomach, lower abdomen or pelvis, you may get diarrhoea. This can occur because the radiation irritates the lining of the bowel or stomach.

Symptoms include frequent loose, watery bowel movements, abdominal cramps, and feeling an urgency to go to the toilet. It often begins in the third or fourth week of treatment, and continues for about 3–4 weeks. If you are having pelvic treatment, the therapists may advise you to fill your bladder before each treatment session. This expands your bladder and pushes your bowels higher up into the abdomen, away from the radiation. Make sure you follow these instructions to minimise any reactions. Radiotherapy is often used to treat cancer in the mouth, throat, neck or upper chest region. Depending on the area treated, radiotherapy may affect your mouth and teeth. This can make eating and swallowing difficult, and affect your sense of taste. Radiotherapy to the mouth may increase the chance of tooth decay or other problems in the long term. Future dental work can be more difficult due to problems with healing. You will need to have regular, ongoing dental check-ups after treatment is finished.

If you’re seeing a dental specialist, ask if they can liaise with your usual dentist about any work you need carried out before treatment. They can also give you detailed instructions about caring for your mouth and teeth, to help prevent tooth decay and to deal with problems such as mouth sores. After several weeks of treatment, your mouth or throat may become dry and sore, and your voice may become hoarse. This will gradually improve after treatment is completed, but may take several weeks or even months. You may also have thick phlegm in your throat, or a lump-like feeling that makes it hard to swallow. Food may also taste different. Recovery of normal taste can sometimes take a long time after treatment is completed. Radiotherapy to the pelvic area can make sexual intercourse uncomfortable. You may notice a change in your sexual desire (libido). This is common and may only be short term. Radiotherapy can make you feel too tired or nauseated to want to be intimate.

Some people may also feel less sexually attractive to their partner because of changes to their body. Talking to your partner about your concerns may help. Radiotherapy may cause the vagina to feel dry, itchy or burning. Treatment may also make vaginal tissue shrink and stiffen, making sex painful. Your doctor or nurse may suggest you use vaginal lubricant or an instrument to expand the vagina (dilator), or to have regular intercourse. Vaginal changes are usually not permanent, but for some women, they are longer lasting or permanent. Talk to your health care team for information and support. Some women stop having their periods during treatment and may experience menopause. The signs of menopause include hot flushes, dry skin and vaginal dryness. Men may have problems getting and maintaining erections, and ejaculation may be painful for a few weeks after treatment. Your doctor may talk to you about using contraception during or after radiotherapy. See also Fertility issues.

Although radiotherapy can affect fertility, it is still possible for a woman to become pregnant while having treatment. A man receiving radiotherapy could still make his partner pregnant. Women having radiotherapy or whose partners are having radiotherapy are usually advised not to become pregnant. In a woman, radiotherapy to the pelvic area may affect either her eggs (ova) before conception or her unborn child. Radiotherapy to an area close to a man’s testicles may cause him to produce abnormal sperm. If pregnancy is possible, you and your partner will be strongly advised to use contraception or abstain from sex during radiotherapy. If you or your partner becomes pregnant, talk to your doctor as soon as possible. It may be recommended you use a barrier method of contraception (such as a condom or a female condom) for a certain period of time. This is to prevent the risk of infection if you have any sores that are healing. Talk to your doctor for more information about using contraception.

Your health care team can also give you advice if you are planning on starting a family after cancer treatment. Having radiotherapy near your reproductive organs could affect your ability to have children naturally (fertility). Radiotherapy to the pelvic area can cause periods to become irregular or stop for a short time. For some women their periods stop permanently (menopause). Talk to your doctor about ways to relieve the symptoms of menopause. Radiotherapy to an area that includes the testicles may reduce sperm production temporarily. You may feel the sensations of orgasm, but ejaculate little or no semen. This is called a dry orgasm. Usually, semen production returns to normal after a few months, but for some men, infertility is permanent. If you want to father a child, you may wish to have sperm stored before your treatment starts. This may allow your partner to conceive through artificial insemination later. Discuss this with your doctor. For more information about these issues, call Cancer Council on 13 11 20 for a free copy of Sexuality, Intimacy and Cancer.