Cold cap help

Hi, 

I successfully used the cold cap while having adriomycin (doxorubicin). My hair was fairly thick and I experienced no discomfort. In fact as the treatment took place in summer, the cold cap was quite pleasant. One hint you might find helpful is to put a scarf around your shoulders so that your back does not feel cold. I did keep my hair shorter than usual. It did thin a bit - but I kept it throughout.

Hope your treatment goes well.

I've personally recently been diagnosed with BC again after almost 20 years clear and am currently on letrozole. I may even end up on chemo again. Good to be able to share others experiences.

Hi,I was given a voucher at my hospital,Christies,to get a wig free from them.everyone is entitled to one on the NHS I think or obviously you can buy them and lots of ladies like to change their hair and have several in different colours .i always hated wearing hats/scarves but once I had a bald head I had fun with headwear in every colour I could find (amazon is good).i now have a very short but even(cold cap may have prevented patchy regrowth as oncologist said)50 shades of grey hairstyle which some people who don't know I had chemo think is a deliberate choice of style.

I started with the cold cap and stopped it after 4 sessions. With some chemo drugs, you don't have to have it on too long after the drug delivery has finished, but with some you're sitting around very uncomfortable knowing you could have been out of there! 

It's a painful shock when it's first switched on, but only for 10 mins or so. Then just very uncomfortable. I think my tolerance diminished as I got more tired later into the chemo. 

I got increasingly patchy across my crown because we couldn't get an exact fit to my head shape so I started wearing a scarf across the patches. Then I got used to putting on a scarf, then better at styling them, so chucked the cold cap in since it was winter anyway.  My daughter snipped and shaved my head and in the end it all fell out. In fact I bought a wig and never wore it. I was rather inspired by Nadiya Hussain really - she always looks fab. People said I looked very glam!

So it all depends. Give it a go, but don't be afraid to chuck it in. Your centre will have help with scarves, hats etc, but I just went online for ideas. 

I went commando throughout chemo and loved it so much that I'm keeping my hair short for ever. It's about 2 inches on top and a no 4 at the back. 

Try the cold cap if you want to but it must fit absolutely correctly to work properly. It seems that most people who lose their hair with it realise that their cap wasn't fitting tightly. 

Best of luck with it. 

By the way nobody ever mentions the other body hair.  I was delighted not to have to shave my legs and underarms, and my arms were lovely and smooth. I was left with patchy eyebrows, no eyelashes. So lots of eyeliner and bright lipstick (not my usual style). Pubic hair also went - most weird. 

Yep Dosydo I lost every hair on my body. The nasty thick chin hairs were to first to return - in abundance unfortunately.

My chemo unit have a number of cold caps you can use.  Does your chemo unit not have them.  I gave up after 3 mins.  A lady in the unit today tried It and she asked if it was working as after10 minutes she couldn't

Feel anything.  She took neurogenic before hand and seemed the be fine with it.

You should get a wig on the NHS my local hospital had a specialist visit fortnightly so that ladies like me and you could have a confidential session trying on different wigs. I had one similar to my normal hairstyle but my hairdresser then cut my hair to match the wig so you would have been hard pushed to know the difference. However because I cold capped - I only wore it twice. The cold capping was a success for me - I still lost about 40% of my hair and I did have some very thin almost bald patches but these were hidden with a bit of strategic combing over. Now that all active treatment is over my hair is starting to grow - hard to tell what colour it is at the moment but it's definitely growing. 

Make sure that you have a stretchy headband for your head, take painkillers an hour before your treatment, and have a difficult sudoku puzzle or music to listen to while you cool down before your chemo. Drink hot drinks and ask for a blanket if you need it. I found the first couple of sessions fairly easy to cope with but as my hair got thinner these became harder to cope with. But it was worth it and I'm sure you will be successful too.

Good luck

I'm glad to read about 'other' hair Dosydo. Head hair is fine at the moment 16 days after first chemo (used cold cap - it was horrendous!).

However, pubic hair started falling out yesterday so waiting yo see if it all goes or whether I end up with the 'mangy dog' look.

Hi GeorgieCC

Sorry to contact you so long after your treatment. I'm sure you want to move on with your life. I have read the Daniel Field website and all sounds fantastic but I'm struggling to find anyone who has used the products (except the water colour dyes which seem popular).

I am interested in the hair growth active solution and the scalp cooling booster. Did you use either of these and did you have the Paxman cold cap?

I am nearing the end of weekly Paxiltaxel and will be starting 4 x EC after that. I have held on to my hair so far although it has thinned a lot. I'm keen to keep as much as I can, even if only to speed up regrowth.

I would be grateful to hear about your experience but accept full well it may not work for me. I just need to know the product is kind to scalp and hair.

many thanks for your help and advise.