Cold cap

30 replies

hollyblueivy · 17/05/2025 19:04

Hi sorry new to this section of MN and have a few questions for a relative.

Has anyone tried the cold cap and if so can you share your experience and level of success?

Any tips that may help?

Thank you

OP posts:

BlindBat · 19/05/2025 19:33

KurtShirty · 19/05/2025 14:58

I’ve had six rounds of chemo with a cold Cap, I have another 2 to go. It really frustrates me that people get told such horror stories about them, honestly, it’s not that much of a big deal to me when I’m wearing it. I think the sensation is very much like going outside at night with wet hair. Obviously it’s not a particularly pleasant sensation but as soon as the scalp is properly cold it goes numb anyway, it’s not something that you need to feel really scared of.
I got a thin piece of memory foam and taped it (with a few little bits of plasters) over my forehead, because once I had the cap actually pressing onto my forehead and that was painful. I don’t personally think a bandanna is enough to protect the forehead.
I wear a size too big for my scalp, and then after the cover goes on, I use a stretchy bandage to bind it neatly /tight to my head. As you can imagine, I look fucking gorgeous while this is happening 😂
but the point is, we all have different sized and shaped heads, and personally I find it more rational to start with a larger cap and bind it onto my head than have one that is a little bit too tight where is obviously going to ride up and miss bits and also be extremely uncomfortable. The nurses always tell me it won’t work, but I did keep pretty much all of my hair for the first 4 treatments (pacli/carbo), now I have started EC and my hair has started to thin on top, but I can hide it, it’s not severe yet.
I don’t think you need to cut your hair. I have fine, but thick hair, one thing is that it is difficult to get it wet all the way through to the scalp as air pockets can easily form so I always stick my head under a tap, and then put a shitload of conditioner all over my scalp, I do it myself because then I can feel with my fingers that I have absolutely covered my scalp, it’s all wet and slimey with the conditioner. Then just zone out during treatment. If you need reading glasses that can be tricky, I’ve got a pair of cheap ones that I ripped the arms off and I just balance on my nose. Obviously I’m not that concerned about what I look like during treatment haha

This is really helpful, thank you. 😊

PuddledPolly · 20/05/2025 21:23

I’m so glad the nurses on my chemo ward persuaded me to just have a go with the cold cap. It was more manageable than expected.

I lost no hair at all on paclitaxcel. It shed a lot on EC but because I had thick hair to begin with it wasn’t noticeable to anyone who didn’t know me.

dancingwhilstfacingthemusic · 21/05/2025 13:46

I had the cc through 16 rounds of chemo, 12 paclitaxel and 4 EC. The EC was harder on my hair but I’ve kept most of it and was fortunate not to need a wig.
They combed conditioner through my hair before starting to ensure a good contact for the cold. I either had gauze or a panty liner on my forehead to help to prevent icecream headaches! As others have said, if you can tolerate the first 15 mins or so, it’s bearable.
wishing your friend all the best.

a heads up re the reading glasses - I brought a pair as I find it hard to read without them. The arms affected the contact of the cold with the areas over my ears and I definitely thinned on both sides!

user1497787065 · 21/05/2025 13:49

I had long thick wavy hair and was advised that using a cold cap would have very little effect as it wouldn’t penetrate the thickness of my hair.

There was nothing available in wig form to match my hair so went for a sleek bob and loved it.

alpinemoon · 23/05/2025 16:16

I used it but it didn’t work for me. I had thick hair which I cut to a bob before treatment started. Despite following all of Paxman’s tips my hair all fell out after cycle 2 which was really upsetting. But I got some good wigs and once I had got over the shock of losing my hair I actually got quite into wigs!

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