For anyone going through cancer treatment, or supporting someone who is, with calm, reassuring insights from Michelle at The Power of Touch.
About The Power of Touch
The Power of Touch exists to help raise standards of care in wellness and spa environments, particularly when people are living with ill health. Its work supports therapists and brands to approach touch with greater confidence, sensitivity and understanding, so that care remains inclusive, respectful and supportive, especially at more vulnerable times.
The organisation was founded in response to a gap between general therapy training and the lived reality of working with people whose health, skin or nervous system may have been affected by cancer and its treatment. Through education and specialist training, The Power of Touch helps ensure that touch-based therapies are adapted thoughtfully, with consent, dignity and individual needs always at the centre.
The perspective shared throughout this article draws on that specialist experience, offering reassurance and clarity around a topic that can often feel uncertain.
Cancer treatment can change how your body feels in ways you may not expect, from how your skin behaves, to how sensitive you feel, and how you might respond to touch.
If skincare routines or treatments that once felt comforting now feel unfamiliar, overwhelming or simply not right, it’s important to know that you’re not alone. These changes are common, and they’re not a sign that you’re doing anything wrong. Your body is going through a lot, and it’s natural for your needs to shift.
We’ve written this article with input from Michelle from The Power of Touch to gently explore how cancer treatment can affect the skin and the experience of touch, and also how care, when approached thoughtfully and respectfully, can still play a supportive role.
How cancer treatment can affect the skin
Cancer treatments can affect the skin barrier, hydration levels and nerve sensitivity. Skin may become drier, more reactive or more fragile than before, and sensations can feel heightened or less predictable.
Products that once felt familiar may no longer feel comfortable, and even light touch can feel different to how it once did. It is important to remember that these changes are a response to treatment, not a personal failing, and they can influence emotional wellbeing as much as physical comfort.
Understanding this can help ease some of the uncertainty. Gently listening to your skin, rather than pushing through discomfort or holding on to old routines, is often a kinder and more supportive approach.
Michelle explains:
“What once felt comforting can feel overwhelming, uncomfortable, or unpredictable, and that can affect emotional as well as physical responses to touch. Skin changes during treatment are common and expected. Increased dryness, reactivity or fragility are responses to treatment, not something the person is doing wrong.”
Touch during cancer treatment: comfort, care and boundaries
Touch is an important part of human wellbeing. It can help the nervous system feel more settled, support emotional comfort, and offer reassurance, particularly during challenging times.
At the same time, cancer treatment can change how touch is experienced. What once felt soothing may feel too intense, unfamiliar or simply not quite right. You may feel more vulnerable, more cautious, or unsure about what feels comfortable.
There is no correct way to feel. Boundaries around touch may change, and that is completely okay. What matters is that touch, when it is offered, is informed, adapted and guided by your comfort, with clear communication, consent and respect.
Michelle shares:
“A common misconception is that “gentle” or “natural” automatically means suitable or safe. In reality, sensitised or compromised skin often needs products and treatments that are carefully formulated, well tested and supported by clear quality controls — not just reassuring language. Touch is integral to human health and regulation. When approached knowledgeably and adapted appropriately, it can be profoundly supportive — and arguably never more important than when someone is unwell.”
Choosing skincare and treatments during cancer care
As Michelle shared above, not all skincare described as “gentle” or “natural” will feel suitable for sensitised or compromised skin. When the skin barrier is under stress, it often needs more than reassuring language, it needs thoughtful formulation, careful choice and appropriate adaptation.
Specialist cancer-care training helps therapists understand how treatments may affect the skin, body and nervous system, and how to adjust pressure, pace, techniques and product choices accordingly.
If you are considering a treatment during cancer care, it is reasonable, and encouraged, to ask questions. You may want to ask about training, experience, how treatments are adapted, and how your comfort and consent are prioritised. Feeling informed and supported is an important part of safe, caring experiences.
Michelle advises:
“It’s reasonable to ask about qualifications, training, experience, product choices, pressure adaptations and how treatments are modified. Feeling informed and in control is part of safe, supportive care.”
Self-care at home: keeping it simple and supportive
Self-care during cancer treatment does not need to be elaborate, consistent or perfect. Often, simplicity is what feels most supportive.
When the skin barrier is compromised, fewer products and simpler formulas can help reduce the risk of irritation and overwhelm. Gentle, familiar rituals can support comfort, predictability and trust in how the skin responds.
Sometimes care looks like a quiet, grounding moment. Sometimes it looks like rest. Listening to your body and responding with kindness is enough.
Michelle reflects:
“That touch and self-care don’t have to disappear during cancer treatment - they just need to be approached with greater awareness, respect and sensitivity.”
Choosing products for sensitised or compromised skin
If you are navigating skincare during cancer treatment, it can be helpful to look for products created with sensitive or sensitised skin in mind.
Many people feel reassured by:
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Simple formulas with a clear, gentle purpose
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Products that help support the skin barrier
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Fragrance-free or very low-fragrance options
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Brands that are transparent about ingredients and formulation standards
Rather than building longer routines, focusing on a small number of well-chosen steps, such as a gentle cleanser and a barrier-supporting moisturiser or serum, can feel calmer and more manageable.
Patch testing and paying attention to how your own skin responds is always important. What matters most is comfort, not complexity.
Fragrance, ingredients and endocrine concerns: a calm perspective
It is very common to become more aware of ingredients during cancer treatment. When the body feels more vulnerable, many people naturally want to minimise anything that feels unnecessary or potentially irritating, often as a way of seeking reassurance.
You may hear questions around fragrance, hormones and so-called “endocrine disruptors”. This is a complex and evolving area of research. Some substances have been studied for potential effects on hormonal systems, but the evidence is not always clear-cut or conclusive.
What’s important is not to jump to assumptions or draw direct links where the science is still developing. At the same time, it’s understandable that people may choose to simplify routines or select products from brands that take a thoughtful, precautionary approach to ingredients.
Michelle explains:
“When the body feels vulnerable, people naturally want to minimise anything that feels unnecessary or potentially irritating. Ingredient awareness often comes from a desire for reassurance rather than fear. The focus doesn’t need to be on finding the “perfect” product, but on choosing brands that are transparent about their ingredients, work to clear ethical standards, and are guided by expertise rather than trends. That clarity allows people to feel reassured and informed, without feeling overwhelmed or alarmed.”
Clarity, transparency and ethical standards can help people feel informed and reassured, without adding pressure or anxiety.
Care, dignity and reassurance
People going through cancer treatment deserve care, comfort and dignity, and to feel included in wellbeing and self-care, not excluded from it.
Touch and skincare do not need to disappear during this time. They simply need to be approached with greater awareness, respect and sensitivity. Listening to your body is a valid and important guide, and there is no single “right” way to care for yourself.
With the right understanding and support, gentle care can remain a source of comfort and connection, at a time when that care can matter most.
