Cold Caps to Prevent Chemotherapy Hair Loss

[Not Lynn Merely]

I just saw this article today about preventing most chemo-related hair loss in some people: https://www.yahoo.com/beauty/undergoing-chemotherapy-but-keeping-your-hair-113363379583.html?soc_src=mail&soc_trk=ma

It involves drastically cooling the hair follicles on the head during each chemotherapy treatment and for some time before and after in order to reduce the absorption of the chemo drugs by the hair (and prevent subsequent loss of some of that hair).

This topic has appeared in only two threads on the new forums (non-archive), one in 2009:


I've stumbled into this thread a bit late, but I'm glad that all the tests came back negative. :) The stress of not knowing and waiting is probably one of the worst aspects of cancer. :(

DH had stage 4 metastatic testicular cancer (in his spine, stomach, liver, lungs, intestines and a kidney) and was saved by a clinical trial treatment (CBOP-BEP) which is now being rolled out across the country. After he was diagnosed (it took 2 years because of the atypical way that it presented) they had him on chemotherapy within 24 hours and I have nothing but praise for the wonderful people at the Royal Marsden in the UK.

The two bits I wanted to contribute to the thread (which I don't think I saw mentioned above) was that there are things they can do if your particular chemotherapy treatment is prone to causing hair loss. I know that in the UK the NHS provides cold caps; I have pasted below some info from their website (http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Chemotherapy/Pages/Side-effects.aspx):
Cold cap

It may be possible to prevent chemotherapy-associated hair loss by using a cold cap. A cold cap looks similar to a bicycle helmet and is designed to cool your scalp while you receive a dose of chemotherapy. In cooling the scalp, the cold cap reduces the amount of bloodflow to the scalp, which reduces the amount of chemotherapy medication that reaches it. Whether or not you can use a cold cap during treatment will depend on the type of cancer you have. For example, if you have leukaemia, there may be cancer cells near your scalp so a cold cap cannot be used. Cold caps work better with certain chemotherapy medications than others and they may not always prevent hair loss

If the hair does end up falling out it can be traumatic, (especially the first shower/bath when the majority sheds :bigeyes:) but on the positive side when it eventually grows back it is the softest loveliest silky-smooth baby hair imaginable. I couldn't stop stroking DH's head. :D

and again in 2010:


Hi ,
Ask your Dr about a cold hat, they are special hats designed to prevent hairloss during chemo.
Also i am very sorry you are going through this and even if it comes to you loosing your hair, it will grow back, your health is much more important, take each day as it comes and keep possitive. i will keep you in my prayers and thoughts. xxxxx

eta link http://www.cancernet.co.uk/hairloss.htm

all the very best and I hope your treatment goes well for you xxx


There is a thread on breastcancer.org which discusses using cold caps to save your hair. They describe the discomfort to being like an ice cream headache at first.

http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/6/topic/735873?page=1

I don't know anything about it besides what I have briefly read, but I just wanted to bring it up in case any of our members or friends or families are facing chemo. I wish I had heard about this before a relative went through cancer and lost all her hair.

[Eastbound&Down]

I have a friend of the family that tried it, but it didn't work for her. She had already done a couple of treatments when she got it though, so that could have affected it.

[FireFromWithin]

My mum tried it for her first chemo. She has to put a lot of conditioner in and sit with it on while her hair was wet. She was in excruciating pain, it was one of the worst experiences of my life sitting there without being able to do anything. I gave her a foot rub and tried to distract her. Then you can't move your hair for two days afterwards or you risk permenantly damaging the follicles and losing your hair forever (not just the duration of the chemo). I'm sure some people have success with it, I just wanted to share my family's experience. My mum had hair just longer than a pixy (it's shorter now since she hasn't grown it past half an inch since the chemo last year, she likes no fuss!). Mum decided that it wasn't worth the pain and risks, she looked good with no hair and it's grown back lovely. If I was to need chemo I would not use it. That's just a personal opinion.

[browneyedsusan]

My best friend is going through chemo now. Thanks for the info!

[momschicklets]

I know a couple of people, including my sister, who used these through chemo and it did work for the most part. The instructions have to be followed exactly, and you can expect the hair to still thin out a bit. My sister said when you first put them on it's extremely uncomfortable...painful even. But then your head pretty much becomes numb and then it's more tolerable. The cold caps are also quite cumbersome, large and need to be lugged around in a cooler to keep them frozen, and the timing is crucial when it comes to putting them on at the right moment during treatment. If you don't follow the directions exactly, the hair will still fall out completely.

I know it doesn't sound very pleasant. But my sister had lost her hair several times through cancer before finding these, and it was worth it to her to save her hair because losing it was so devastating for her.

[lapushka]

I have nerve pain in both legs that for a decent part (there's different sensations as well) mimics a very ice cold sensation, ICE and ICE cold. It's not pleasant at all. I would NOT put something like that on my head. I'd rather lose the hair. And there is absolutely no guarantee that you won't lose your hair anyway. So what's the point?

[Medievalmaniac]

This was recommended to me when I went through chemo, but when I researched it the results were so hit-or-miss that it was not a good option for me. Maybe if someone could go into it with the mentality of, "if it works great; if not I can handle it." I know myself better than to think I could manage that kind of an approach. I'd get my hopes up and then be completely devastated if it didn't work out. Also, the scene from "The Craft" in which the girl loses all of her hair is super-traumatic for me to watch (and was so before I had chemo) so I knew I could not go through that myself. I just bit the bullet and got a friend to shave my head entirely. I felt like I had more control over it that way--and now I am a few inches from waist re-growing it out, so all's well that ends well. But again, if someone can handle it if the results are not what they want, then absolutely, go for it.