Share your experiences with cold capping, socks and mitts & chemo

Cold capping works if you do it correctly! Remember, it isn’t supposed to keep ALL of your hair. It protects the follicles so they grow back faster. About half of women (depending on the chemo drugs) still need to wear a wig or hair topper but you won’t go completely bald. I did ACT and lost a significant amount of hair but never wore a wig. I did use fake pony tails and buns when I went back to work. I finished chemo 14 months ago yesterday and have a full head of regular hair.

I used the mitts and socks for Taxol. It was not comfortable but not terrible. You can take small breaks if it’s too much. I didn’t get neuropathy at all.

I've mentioned this before. I was 79, now almost 82, at the time I had chemo. I bought scarves, got a wig. I hated all of it. My hair started coming back within 4 months and it was the nicest hair I had ever had, except maybe when I was around 6 years old. I wouldn't bother with the cold cap.

I used the cold mittens and socks religiously with taxol treatments and still ended up with some neuropathy in fingers and toes. They reduced my dosage for treatment #7, seemed to improve then came back and reduced again in #10 and then we stopped taxol after #11. I have seen improvement but still have some in my fingers. Hoping it goes away. My oncologist told me that the cold cap had significantly lower success rate with the Cytoxan and Adriamycin. Just finished my last treatment and completely bald but I have grown to accept it as just part of the process in beating this cancer.
Good luck in your treatment.

This was just starting to be discussed and tried when I had TAC, but my oncology nurse said my hair was coming out and there was no stopping it. I believed her, and sure enough, less than two weeks later there was not a single hair on my body. I laugh about it now. I hope you all can come to find the humor as well.

I was diagnosed in April with breast cancer, HER2 positive with negative lymph nodes, stage 1, grade 2, had a double mastectomy now 5 weeks post op. Chemo starts this week for 4 rounds every 3 weeks. So wondering if the cold cap works so I won’t ( hopefully) lose my hair. Any thoughts or experiences on this? Thanks

I did not use it, but i remember 2 women on bc.org saying that their hair thinned a lot, but in the end they had hair. They also mentioned that having someone to help is better. You have probably googled it, but i expect someone on this site will have real experience.
I had long read hair all my life. All my life i was the little red-haired girl. My oncologist did not promote the cold cap. I do know for many; it is a way to go. I lost all my hair. 2 years later, I got another diagnosis and today I lost it a 2nd time. That is my story.
I say investigate, and know if you follow all the guidelines with these cold cap treatments, you may end up with thinner hair, but you may have hair.

Use the search bar for: Cold Cap.
There are a number of different posts on the subject.

Thank you!

I used Penguin cold caps for 12 weeks of Taxol for HER2+. It was very successful for me, lost very little hair. It’s a lot of work and you need to follow all the hair care instructions for best results. There are other less manual methods (Dignicap, Paxman, etc.) you can research if you have time. Insurance didn’t cover mine so it can be expensive. I spent roughly $2000. It’s not for everyone but I’m happy I did it. I didn’t have to disclose my cancer diagnosis unless I wanted to. Helped me maintain a sense of normalcy while going through a difficult time. Make sure your chemo drugs are compatible. Some types of drugs it won’t work for.

Hi , I used dignicap for my one and only round of chemo and it worked well for me . Around day 18 -24 after your first infusion is when you lose a lot of hair . After that you will steadily lose less and less hair . I’m 6 months out from my infusion and I finally stopped shedding . Your hair will start growing back 3 to 4 months after your last infusion , but you will continue to shed even though your hair is growing back . I lost about half my hair on top with a couple of bald spots that I was able to hide with a hairband . Now it’s all growing back and you cant tell . Hope this helps 🙂