Does radiation therapy hurt?

Radiation and radiotherapy sessions are absolutely painless. However, pain may occur as a result of acute side effects (e.g. dermatitis or mucositis) and may appear after 2-3 weeks of treatment.

 

On the other hand, radiation therapy is frequently used for pain relief, for example to relieve pain related to the presence of bone metastases. Indeed, radiotherapy has an anti-inflammatory activity that contributes to reduce this type of pain.