Red marks on my husband's face

Hello!  My husband has had surgery for male breast cancer, followed by radiotherapy during last October.  About a week to ten days after the radiotherapy finished, these two red marks appeared on his face, just around his sideburn area on the left hand side.  I would say that neither is more than about a finger nail sort of size.  They've never got bigger, they don't itch, they're not sore.  Every now and again, they get a bit dry and flaky, then return to just being red.  He went to the radiotherapy unit where he was treated to see if that might have caused this, but the staff were definite that it hadn't.  Our GP subsequently prescribed cream that is normally used to treat bad sunburn, but this had no effect.  He puts Sudocrem on them at night, and washes his face with Simple soap, and uses a shaving foam for sensitive skin.  He has had three "spots" appear on his forehead, too, again not getting any worse, not itching, not sore, and again he puts some Sudocrem on them at night.  He is very self-conscious about these marks, and has actually taken to applying some cover stick if we go out.  Today, he went to the dermatology clinic for samples to be taken, and bless him, he now has stitches in his face as well as red marks!  He gets the results on 17th March.  I am SO worried that these could be connected to the male breast cancer - his surgery was very successful, and all his subsequent scans have been clear, but that doesn't stop me panicking.  He's been through so much (he spent Christmas in hospital, having developed cellulitis in his surgery wound).  Do these marks ring a bell with anyone?  Anyone had something similar?  I would seriously appreciate any advice or information.  Thank you XXXX

  • Hi! My husband has late stage prostate cancer and takes quite a few drugs now, including steroids. Recently, well some months ago , he  developed a few red marks, they are dark red, quite small, and they han't grown much, if at all. They are very visable though and he too uses a 'cover stick' thingy though he isn't usually that bothered about his appearance. We, and his GP, think that it must be the result ofsome kind of hormonal/chemical imbalance (breast and prostate cancer are both  hormone dependant) as once they appear they don't seem to change. There haven't been any new ones recently so we think his poor body has adjusted yet again to all the abuse its had!

     

  • Hello, Renee!  I hadn't thought about hormones, and you are of course quite right about prostate and breast cancer.  That makes me feel quite a lot better.  I, too, considered the "battering" that my husband's system has taken, and really, reactions like this are probably inevitable.  We're now waiting on the outcome of the tests, of course.  The two stitches he has in his face are actually less obvious than the red marks!!!  All the very best to you and your husband XXXXXX

  • Hello! Glad to be of help.You are quite right about various rections to treatment being inevitable.  All sorts of odd things have cropped up since my husband started treatment years ago now - at one time we even had co-ordinated hot flushes - but I never though I would be teaching him how to apply make up! Its sooo tough at times but, amazingly, it sometimes has a funny side! Hope the test result is good and everything goes well for you both from now on.