Cold caps

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Anyone used a cold cap whilst having chemo? How did it go. Considering using one as my 7 year old is really concerned about my hair loss. Pensive

  • Hi Everhopeful2022

    Welcome to the forum and sorry to hear that you have been diagnosed with breast cancer.  I didn't use the cold cap to keep my hair during treatment but I thought I'd reply to you anyway as you haven't had any answers yet.  I know of others on this forum who have used it with varying degrees of success.  I do know from them that it adds extra time to your treatment.  Hopefully someone who had done cold capping will be along shortly to answer your question in more detail.

    Best of luck with your treatment.

    Best wishes

    Daisy53

    Community Champion Badge

  • Hi, I had Paclitaxel infusions once a week for 12 weeks last summer and used a cold cap.

    I watched videos made by Paxman, the manufacturer, beforehand and these are available on you tube.

    The first 10 minutes or so of wearing it are hard, but  you do get used to it. Having a cold shower gives you a similar sensation.

    it was definitely a challenge, but it was so worth it. I didn’t lose any head hair and it made a big difference to my family.

    I followed instructions to the letter, only washing hair twice a week, no hairdryer or heat tong use and used a wide toothed comb.

    I also treated myself to shampoo and conditioner from Paxman, these may not have made a difference but made me feel better!

    if you do go ahead, make sure the nurses fit your cap properly. I found that some were better than others at it and if there is a gap between any area of your scalp and the cap it won’t work so don’t be afraid to say if it doesn’t feel right.

    Wishing you all the best!

  • Forgot to say that the cap is on for an hour before your treatment starts and half an hour afterwards so does add a bit of time but in all honesty Ilthe pre cooling can happen while awaiting for pharmacy to send drugs etc. 

    And once I got into a routing I strangely quite liked my sessions as it was “me” time! Weird I know!

  • Amazing thank you so much for this. Did you have to buy the caps or can you rent them get them from the hospital? 

  • The hospital will have the whole machine. It’s a special cap that has multiple small tubes within it. It’s a bit like a tight swimming cap. It’s then attached by a hose to a machine that pumps cold water through it. 
    I was shown how to attach the tubes myself so that I could remove the hose to go to the loo, it’s easy to connect back up again.

    I can understand why some people wouldn’t consider using it, but for me, it was worth it and I’m glad I persisted.

  • HI

    I had 3 x EC followed by 3 x Docetaxal and cold capped not only as I didn't want my 2 year old Grandson to be frightened of me but also for myself. I was very lucky and only lost about 30% of my hair (not in clumps just thinning). It's not too bad at all and well worth it in my case. Just make sure that you have a very snug fit on the cap! I weighted mine done on the crown with 0.5kg ankle weights tied with a scarf (Lovely look) but this is the most common area to loose the hair as far as I could tell. I struggled with 'the fear of the unknown' but like I said I was extremely lucky , hope you are too! 

    Good luck x

  • Hi i finished chemo in January and used the cap. I honestly didnt find it a problem, once the first few minutes have passed you forget. Take a book to concentrate on. My chemo was during winter and i was quite chilly so have a cardigan or shawl.....normally im boiling!  My hair thinned but no bald patches. Im just about to colour it for first time. I would say have a trim as i found my hair was really knotty. As someone else said make sure its a tight fit, the caps are in three sizes, i had small. I can see now where there wasnt a a good connection around my ears and along the sides as hair is starting to grow bank and is really curly. For me its more noticeable now as iv got roots grey hair and regrowth!!. 

    I didnt find the additional time a problem, often they put the cap on while doing the checks and questions and giving me stetoids etc. Sometimes my treatment hadnt arrived so the cap didnt really cause much delay. Its very bearable and i woild defo recommended . Good luck x

  • Thank you this is really good to know. I will definitely bring trying one. 

  • Great thank you. I look into weighing it down too.x

  • I tried it with my first chemo cycle. It needs to be on for an hour before chemo, which isn’t a problem given other things have to be done during that time. The amount of time it has to be on afterwards varies depending on the chemo drugs you are having, take a look at the Paxman site. It’s success rates also vary by both chemo type and hair type. I started with EC chemo, and I have very fine, straight hair. This was the combination with the poorest chance, and sure enough most of the hair came off the top of my head around 3 weeks later. I didn’t bother after that. I have to say I was quite glad, the whole not washing your hair much thing wouldn’t have sat well with me. I cropped what was left very short and use a scarf. Try it but be realistic about expectations and whether it will leave you with enough hair to be worth it. I had been talked into trying it when I knew it wasn’t likely to work for me, I wish I had stuck with my instinct. I hated the hair shedding bit and would have just cropped my hair earlier and probably felt better about everything if I hadn’t bothered with cold capping.