Is radiation therapy painful?

Is radiation therapy painful?

There are times when radiation can be considered, fairly uncomfortable. It depends upon the location where the radiation is given. Some people receive radiation to parts of the body where there is no tissue that is quite as sensitive to the radiation. For instance, if you are getting radiation to the brain, it is far less uncomfortable than getting radiation to the mouth. Everyone's had a cold sore. One cold sore can make you not want to eat at all. Radiation treatments can induce, not necessarily cold sores, but sores in the mouth, and they can be on the orders of tens, twenties, to a hundred of them in the mouth at one time. Which can make it almost impossible to eat, excruciatingly painful, painful even swallowing your own saliva. So, that's a very drastic contrast between where you get your radiation, and what are the potential side effects and pain associated with those treatments.