Buy Cold Cap For Chemotherapy UPDATED

Cold caps are helmet-like hats that are tight-fitting and filled with cold gel or liquid. People wear cold caps before, during, and after chemotherapy treatment. The American Cancer Society (ACS) states that cold caps can prevent or reduce hair loss that occurs with cancer treatment.

buy cold cap for chemotherapy

Cold caps offer scalp cooling therapy that doctors may also refer to as scalp hypothermia. These devices narrow the blood vessels under the scalp to limit the amount of chemotherapy that reaches the hair follicles. Less exposure to chemotherapy can reduce the risk of hair loss.

A 2017 study found that women with breast cancer who received chemotherapy and underwent scalp cooling maintained most of their hair. However, those who did not get scalp cooling experienced substantial hair loss.

A more recent 2018 article suggests that cold cap treatment works better in individuals undergoing taxane-based chemotherapy than in those receiving anthracycline. These are two different types of chemotherapy drugs.

Another recommendation is to bring warm clothes when attending an appointment, as cold caps can make people feel very cold. The initial part of the treatment may be uncomfortable while adjusting to the cool temperature.

A growing number of insurance companies are covering cold cap treatments during chemotherapy. As of January 2022, Medicare reimburses patients for cold caps. Patients with a health savings account or flexible spending account can use those funds to cover the cost of cold caps.

HairToStay is a national nonprofit that has partnered with UCSF to cover up to $1,500 in cold cap treatment costs for low-income patients. To be eligible for a subsidy, you must meet the following requirements:

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cleared the expanded use of a cooling cap, DigniCap Cooling System, to reduce hair loss (alopecia) during chemotherapy. This is the first cooling cap cleared by the agency for use in cancer patients with solid tumors.

Hair loss is a common side effect of certain types of chemotherapy and is commonly associated with the treatment of most solid tumor cancer. Hair may fall out entirely, gradually, in sections, or may become thin. Hair loss due to cancer treatment is usually temporary, but minimizing or relieving these kinds of side effects are considered important to overall treatment.

The DigniCap Cooling System is indicated to reduce the frequency and severity of hair loss during chemotherapy in solid tumor cancer patients in which alopecia-inducing chemotherapeutic agents and doses are used. It is a computer-controlled system used during treatment. A cap is worn on the head and circulates liquid to a cap to cool the scalp during chemotherapy treatment. The cap is covered by a second cap made from neoprene, a type of rubber that holds the cooling cap in place and acts as an insulation cover to prevent loss of cooling.

The cooling is intended to constrict blood vessels in the scalp, which reduces the amount of chemotherapy that reaches cells in the hair follicles. The cold temperature also decreases the activity of the hair follicles and slows down cell division, making them less affected by chemotherapy. The combined actions are thought to reduce the effect chemotherapy has on the cells, which may reduce hair loss. DigniCap may not work with some chemotherapy regimens.

In 2015, the FDA granted marketing authorization of the DigniCap for use in patients with breast cancer. For that authorization, the efficacy of the cooling system was studied in 122 Stage I and Stage II women with breast cancer who were undergoing chemotherapy, using recognized chemotherapy regimens that have been associated with hair loss. That study demonstrated that more than 66 percent of patients treated with the DigniCap reported losing less than half their hair. In support of the expanded use of the device, the manufacturer also submitted evidence from published, peer-reviewed articles that analyzed the application of the DigniCap to cancer patients with solid tumors in other areas of the body besides the breast. The FDA concluded that these studies provided valid scientific evidence to support the safety and efficacy of the expanded indication for the DigniCap.

The device is contraindicated for pediatric patients, patients with certain cancers and patient undergoing specific chemotherapy treatments. Additionally, DigniCap may not be appropriate for patients with cold sensitivity or susceptibility to cold-related injuries.

The most common side effects of the cooling system include cold-induced headaches and neck and shoulder discomfort, chills and pain associated with wearing the cooling cap for an extended period of time. The risk of the chemotherapy drug missing an isolated grouping of the cancer cells in the scalp because of the cooling cap is rare.

Scrolling through a hashtag rabbit hole on Instagram, she happened upon the trademark blue caps of cold cap therapy, a scalp cooling system that purportedly keeps chemotherapy medicine from reaching hair follicles by constricting blood vessels in the scalp, allowing patients to keep some of their hair during treatment.

DigniCap and Paxman, the only two FDA-cleared cooling caps in the U.S., reportedly work by cooling the scalp enough that the blood vessels constrict, limiting the amount of blood-flow (and thus, medicine) that gets to the scalp area and hair follicles. Both systems are used for patients receiving taxane-based chemotherapy and anthracycline agents, and are not recommended for patients with lymphomas, leukemia, malignancies of the scalp, or patients who will receive radiation in the head or scalp area. The caps tends to be most effective, however, when used during a taxane regimen as anthracyclines cause particularly aggressive hair loss.

"I have a love/hate relationship with cold capping," explains McLaughlin. "On the one hand, it would be so much easier to do chemotherapy without cold capping. It is freezing cold, and it hurts. It feels like having a brain freeze on your scalp times a thousand. Imagine putting on a tight fitting cap (much like the feel of an ice pack) that's been in a bio-freezer forever. Also, I get very sleepy during chemo due to some of the medications they have to give me along with the treatment, and I wish I could just lie back and take a long nap and wake up when it's all over. But cold capping doesn't let me do any of that."

According to the American Cancer Society, recent studies of women receiving chemo for early-stage breast cancer have found that at least half of women using newer cold-cap systems have kept at least half of their hair.

According to a 2017 clinical trial of 182 breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, cold capping can be an effective tool in alleviating the trauma of hair loss. Chemotherapy-induced alopecia is an important problem to patients with cancer, ranking among the most distressing adverse effects," the study's authors write. "Women have reported decreases in self-esteem, sexuality, and body image related to chemotherapy-induced alopecia; some women have even described having chemotherapy-induced alopecia as being more difficult than losing a breast...The use of scalp cooling devices may help to alleviate some of this distress."

Cold caps are devices that reduce the hair loss caused by some types of chemotherapy. Typically, three to four weeks after the first treatment session, damage to hair follicles from chemotherapy results in hair loss. (Hair follicles are tiny pockets in the scalp that contain the cells for hair growth.)

Cold caps work by cooling the scalp, which temporarily constricts blood flow to your hair follicles. This reduces the amount of drug that reaches your hair as well as the metabolic activity of your follicles, making them less sensitive to chemotherapy's effects.

The effectiveness of scalp cooling varies from person to person and depends on your chemotherapy regimen. While using cold caps isn't a guarantee you'll keep most of your hair, they can slow and reduce hair loss. You'll still experience thinning hair and patchy loss. Cold caps also don't prevent hair loss elsewhere on the body, so they can't help you keep eyelashes and eyebrows.

If you want to use a cold cap, your hair should be clean when you arrive at the infusion center. That means washing it the day before or the day of your treatment with a shampoo that's free of paraben, silicones, and sodium laurel sulfate. The day of your treatment, your hair must also be free of all products.

Be prepared to get cold! Wear layers. The infusion center will have warm blankets for you to use. (We cannot accommodate use of electric blankets or warmers due to fire code restrictions.) If you don't have mouth sores from your chemotherapy, bring a warm beverage to sip.

You may experience some discomfort from the coldness. Ask your infusion center nurse whether you can take a low-dose pain medication, such as ibuprophen or acetomenaphin before you start the cooling process.

The general procedure for your session depends on which cold cap product you use. But with either product, cold caps are worn before, during and after your chemotherapy infusion. Before putting on the cap, staff will wet your scalp with water, which helps with the cooling process. (If you have the kind of hair that gets fluffy or expands when wet, spraying it could prevent the cap from having direct contact with your scalp. If that's the case, let the infusion center staff know so they can decide whether wetting your hair is the best option.)

The cap will go on for a "pre-cooling" period, which prepares your scalp for chemotherapy. It stays on after your infusion for a "post-cooling" period. Because chemotherapy drug levels peak in your system immediately after you complete an infusion, continued constriction of blood flow to your scalp for a few hours after treatment is the best way to protect your hair follicles. The length of the post-cooling period depends on the type of chemotherapy you're getting and may include the time you're receiving medications that don't cause hair loss. 041b061a72