I was diagnosed with breast cancer in December 2022 age 35.
I chose to give cold capping a go with the knowledge it may not work for me. So I went in with an open mind of there is a 50/50 chance this will work for me or not, if I don’t try then I can’t regret it at a later date, saying I should have done cold capping.
Before I started my first cold capping, I was told by someone that they new a person who tried cold capping and they said it is really painful and horrible.
Well, my experience is definitely not painful or horrible. If anything I had the reputation of being the smiley one wearing the cold cap.
Below is the process and my experience of it.
The process of cold capping is, your nurse or assistant nurse will get some warm water and spray your head; yes the water came out as cold instead of warm, even though the bottle was warm. She then gets your hair nice and wet.
She then puts Simple conditioner on your head and massages it into your scalp or she will use your comb; sometimes a bit of both.
Then you put your stretchy Alice band onto your forehead as this will protect you from the cold capping.
She will then get the correct size blue silicone cap which is small, medium, larger or extra large, is put on which has the tube that connects to the machine.
Then the grey cap cover, when the grey cap cover is put on, there will be a lot of pressure pushed down on your head to make it sit right, once the nurse/ assistant has got the cover in the right place the pressure then stops.
She then attaches the chin strap to the grey cover and makes sure you are comfortable with it.
She will also do touch tests to make sure you can feel her touching certain points on your head.
Then she will hook you up to the machine and turn it on. You will hear the machine quietly humming in your ears and your hearing will be slightly reduced but that is perfectly normal.
The first 10 minutes, is the bit people don’t like, as this is the part where it gets very cold. For me it felt like putting a bag of ice on your head.
When this first happens I found the best way to get through it is to distract your mind from what is happening on your head. Look around the room, tell yourself what do you see what is happening, what are the nurses doing and anything else you want to look at, or even reading a book a newspaper, puzzle book or even just talking to the nurse or other patients to distract you from the cold on your head.
You can also ask for a heat pad and blanket as this will defiantly help on your first few goes at cold capping, oh and a nice hot cup of tea/ coffee or which ever hot drink you want will also help.
After the first 10 minutes your head starts to settle and forget about what is on your head..
The process will take half and hour, which flies by when you distract your mind.
Then you have an hour having chemo.
I also found that the cold cap made me feel dizzy when I looked down, but this could also have been a reaction to chemo that I was on in the beginning, since I have changed to a different chemo I know longer get dizzy.
Then once your chemo has ended you then have an hour after with the cold cap, when this is re-turned on it isn’t anywhere as cold as by now your head and body have got used to it, if anything you may wonder if it is even turned on as you can’t feel the cold so much.
Once the hour is up, you then have the defrosting stage, which is where the cap cover comes off and the silicone is still left on your head as this is the bit that needs to defrost.
Once it has defrosted enough, it gets taken off you or if the nurses are happy you can remove it your self, then pat your hair dry, do not rub as your hair is fragile from the chemo and your hair will fall out more.
It helps to wear a hat for your journey home, as this will help warm your head up. I would wash my hair when I got home to get the conditioner out of my hair, I would set the water to the same temperature as my body as that way you do not burn your scalp. Then pat your hair dry with the towel and try it with the hair dryer. A nice hot drink afterwards or hot food will help warm your body back up. Some people didn’t wash their hair the same day as chemo but did it the next day, either option is fine as it is up to each individual person, as to what works for them.
When having cold capping it is advised to cut your hair short as this will help. My hair was original down the middle of my back, I then cut it short to shoulder length as mentally I wasn’t ready to go shorter as I haven’t had short hair since I was a child.
My hair did fall out in clumps and eventually matted, as the trauma of losing your hair was playing on my mind, hence my hair matted from tossing and turning at night.
So I then got it cut short and I am glad I did this and changing my shampoo. My hair continued to fall out a bit more after this and it was touch and go if cold capping should continue or not, so I worked with the nurses and we took each week at a time before we said enough is enough.
To everyone’s surprise, including mine, my hair started growing back, 6 months later I am still using the cold cap and my hair is getting thicker, longer and stronger, and doesn’t fall out like it use to.
I would suggest changing your shampoo to the simple brand 2-3 weeks before your very first chemo session, as this product is unscented and will be much kinder to your hair. As scented products are far too harsh and won’t help your hair.
Your hair may fall out after a few sessions with the cold cap, this is normal, but I do suggest keep going, work with the nurses and put up with the extra cold on your head for a little while, but be careful your head doesn’t get burnt from the cold, just take each week at a time.
But as I said this may not work for everyone, but still worth trying as you never know your luck.
What to bring with you.
Simple conditioner
A comb - a wide tooth comb can be better but not essential
A stretchy Alice band
Cold capping chin strap - which the chemo unit provided
Something to read if you wish.
