Cooling Caps to Prevent Hair Loss

@sabwal
During my first chemo series (carboplatin, Taxol, keytruda) I used the cold gloves and booties. To keep the gloves/booties cold I brought a cooler with a really tight lid and subzero ice packs. You freeze the gloves/booties the night before your infusion so they get good and cold, I froze them for two nights prior to the infusion with the freezer temp turned down to below zero and had two sets of the socks/gloves. My husband was able to go to each infusion and helped me switch out the gloves/booties when the ice warmed up. The ice packs are actually able to refreeze the gel packs in the small cooler we used.
https://arctic-ice.com/products/tundra-series
I did get foot neuropathy even with the icing but it resolved to tingling in the balls of my feet and toes and does not effect my balance, walking, or exercise capabilities. One pinkie on my left hand had tingling and that resolved within months after the chemo series ended. My thoughts are that success was greater with the hands as they are thinner appendages than feet and thus easier to cool down and slow down blood flow to.
I wore the gloves and booties for the entire appointment and thin socks on my feet. The chemo Nurses tried to tell me that only Taxol causes neuropathy. The drug disclosure information for each chemo drug mentions neuropathy as a side effect so I figured it would not hurt to do it for the full infusion time.
To make it easier to take bathroom breaks I wore slip on sandals since your feet are bare once you take off the booties.
Unfortunately I had a reoccurrence and am doing the series again but this time with Jemperli instead of Keytruda. In addition to icing I have added compression socks and disposable nitrile gloves. The gloves are one size too small to provide compression and the support hose are of high compression (30-40mmhg). I have had two treatments so far, the hands are good and the feet only slightly worse so fingers and toes crossed that continues!

@beebe what about hair loss and cold capping? Worked to begin with for me.

3 months after cold capping hair still shedding. Had a long break 3+ months since last chemo but have to resume chemo asap 😬

@beebe what about hair loss and cold capping? Worked to begin with for me.

3 months after cold capping hair still shedding. Had a long break 3+ months since last chemo but have to resume chemo asap 😬

@beebe is it ok to wear compression socks & gloves with the cooling socks & gloves? Or does that reduce cold getting to the skin?

@boddentown
The chemo Nurses told me the cold cap does not prevent 100% of hair loss, but you do lose less.
I wonder if hair shed after chemo is like finger nail damage.
I had cracks in my finger nails show up 6 months post chemo and found out the chemo drugs go after rapidly dividing cells and it just takes a while to show up.

I never considered cold capping due to the expense and the length of time for each treatment. Doesn't the cold capping have to continue for extra time after the last infusion? My infusion series took so long and I had an hour drive home so just wanted the day to be over.

I had a year of chemo.I didn't use a cold cap. I lost my hair, but it started coming back in about 4 months. It was curly and the best hair I have ever had. The curls disappeared after a few hairuts and I still miss them.. My hair is good now. I've let it grow long so I can wear it back which makes life so much easier. I was 78 wheen I lost my hair. Now I'm 85. I hated wigs. I mostly wore scarves.

No cap. My hair came back similar to my pre-cancer hair in terms of curl/waves. But it is not as thick. Same with my eyebrows and lashes which have thin spots, so I use eyebrow filler and eyeliner makeup when I go out.
And is it just me, or did anyone notice more facial wrinkles?

@ffr Yes to the wrinkles! I think the chemo aged my skin at least 10 years, I went from ok 60 year old skin to crepey 80 year skin. So I changed how I look at my skin, it is there, cancer free, and doing it's job and I am alive:)

@beebe
Thank you for confirming that I wasn’t crazy regarding the wrinkles! They added at least ten years to my face and don’t improve with facial cream. The rest of my body’s skin also has no firmness.
But yes, it is a worthwhile trade off.