Cooling Caps to Prevent Hair Loss

Hi there,

I have been doing cold capping for 12 sessions of chemo and counting. The company that Mayo uses is called Paxman. It is a whole system; there is a silicon inner cap that fits tightly to your head and a cloth type over cap that has to be tightened over it. The silicon cap has a large tube that connects to a cooling machine (about the size of an old speaker.) It requires 30 minutes of cooling before chemo and 90 minutes of cooling afterwards. The whole time it feels like ice water circulating around your head. The first few minutes are uncomfortable but you get used to it. So far, I’ve kept almost all of my hair (although a second opinion doctor told me that the chemo I’m on doesn’t always cause hair loss.) My insurance paid 100% for the cold capping. I would recommend it to anyone who is considering it.

@korinja My treatment is for 5 hours so I was worried about Paxman because I have to stay on the machine.
But so only some discomfort? I am very sensitive to cold. My insurance won't cover.

It will add an extra 2 hours to your chemo time, so 7 hours might be longer than you would want. The infusion center at Mayo had heated blankets, which I use to help manage the cold. I’ve started asking for IV Benadryl as part of my premeds, which helps me to not care as much about the initial discomfort. It is uncomfortable for sure at the beginning. Every single time I ask myself, “Why am I doing this?” During the first few minutes. But, it passes, or you get used to it, and so for me, it’s not that bad. Manageable, compared to a lot of other things that we have to endure.

@korinja What does the IV Benadryl do?
With the cap on, I assume you can't listen to podcasts, etc.
I'll ask if a heated blanket is provided.
Thank you for shedding light on what to experience.
Sitting for so long seems like a challenge - like flying to Europe, but not nearly as fun!

@sabwal yeah I didn't even consider the cold caps. Hair came out and it's still out. It doesn't bother me at all. I did try the cold mitts for hand and feet but I could not stand the cold for 20 minutes especially on my feet. If you're sensitive to cold I don't think you'd be comfortable doing the cold cap either. Imagine washing your hair in only cold water only the water stays on there for 30 before treatment then 90 minutes after. I'm assuming it stays on during treatment too. I hope you can tolerate it and all works out well.

I'm enclosing a pic of how I look. I go out like this too. Too hot for wigs and they'd drive me crazy. The no hair look isn't so bad. You just gotta get used to it. Saves a lot of time getting dressed too.

@sabwal my first chemo treatments were 7 hours. I'd take my phone and charger and activity books to work in. I packed my own lunch and snacks. They have a snack cart at the infusion center the bring around. A lot of people slept through most of treatments but I couldn't do that even with all the pre meds they added. My keytruda only takes about an hour and a few minutes so I just take my phone. Lol

The time goes by faster than you'd think or it did for me because there was always something going on. I took a blanket on the first trip and no other. I didn't need it.

@sabwal The IV Benadryl gives me a “peaceful easy feeling” 😉 and then helps me to sleep through most of the time that I’m under the cap.

@carol1024 I think you're Beautiful!. Keep it up.

My sister's doctor suggested compression gloves and stockings instead of cold gloves and booties, since one of her chemo meds makes her sensitive to cold. There seems to be no alternative to the cold cap, so i guess hair loss is on the horizon.

@dpcaring4 I had two 1hr chemo infusions every month for 3 months and lost most of my hair. I trimmed it very short, a buzz cut? so I wouldn't find clumps on the bathroom floor or stopping up my shower. But I saved my hair and glued it to a head band that I wore under a scarf head wrap which I appropriated from some of my Creole ancestors who came to my area to work in the cane fields of Louisiana. It's called a Tignon. I just sectioned my hair and put tiny rubber bands close to my scalp & then cut between the rubber band and my scalp then used a fabric glue to glue the tiny pony tails to the stretchy fabric headband headband. I hope it might inspire someone who may not like wigs or going out bald in public to use this idea. I've seen baseball caps with wigs attached & that gave me the idea. I'm not a ball cap wearing girl so I just borrowed the idea.