I had the cold cap through all my 6 treatments ikept my top hair but lost it all underneath.it went really thin but not bald x
I noticed I was going bald, I panicked and turned the internet upside down in search of a solution and tried lots of products and weird things but none worked. a friend who used Ā to tease me about the hair (in a bid to tease me further) bought a product from Africa during his travels and he mockingly gave me as a present.I tried it and the result is unbelievable. infact he had to call his contacts in Africa to get in touch with the manufacturers. I know how frustrating and confidence-sapping being bald is thatās why I took this painstaking mission to reveal to any who wants to try it. you can contact the manufacturers on (abiomoigho@gmail.com)I hope this message helps.
Hi baysmom97,
I am curious did you continue with the cold caps? I am about to start chemo next thursday Oct. 27thā¦ I should be receiving my cold caps tomorrow via FedEx. I am really hoping they will work. Im a bit concerned because of the comments below with people saying they didnt work. Is everyone changing the caps every 20minutes? Thats what my instructions say. Sounds very encompassing but well worth it. Especially against Taxerene which has been on the tv. Any feedback on process of the cold caps?
Hi godiswithme
I am cold capping and so far itās working. Mine must be different to yours though as they are not changed every 20 mins. Iām presuming youāre not in the UK?
I use the Paxman ones and they are on for 30 mins prior to treatment, during treatment and 90 mins after. Iām having EC. I havenāt lost any hair to speak of. If I try, which I frequently do, I can probably pull 2 or 3 hairs out but no real shedding yet.
If you can tolerate them then thereās no harm in trying. Yes it prolongs treatment time but for me thatās not an issue. Iām just hoping mine continues to hang in there for the remaining sessions
Blueash is also cold capping and has had success too
Good luck
Sarah x
Hi everyone, I am due my 6th and final fec next Tuesday!! I have managed to hold onto a covering of hair which I am very grateful for however I do now need to wear my wig when I go out, my question is does anyone know if it is better to wear a wig cap underneath or is it ok Ā just to put on over my hair? I donāt want to do anything that will put any extra stress on my hair.
Also is it ok to start using nixion shampoo and conditioner after my chemo is finished or should I stick with the simple range I have been using.
Thankyou Lesley
It is not true that you just plug the penguin cold caps in. They need to be frozen and changed every 15 to 25 minutes. Similar caps can be purchased on Amazon, the price will be 1/3 of the penguin caps. They will also be cheaper than the chem caps which actually purchase the ones on Amazon then rent them out(I believe that is a real disgrace. The so called machine is nothing more than a commercial freezer installed by the Rapunzel project. The freezer gets to -40 degrees, clearly colder than your home freezer, one the caps are fully frozen they are placed on the head for approximately 20 minutes, then replace with a new frozen cap, the other cap is placed back in the freezer. It takes about 2 hours for the cap to refreeze, so it is necessary to have a minimum of 6 caps ideally 8. The caps cost 80.00 each to purchase on Amazon. Free shipping, and still no tax in most states because the item comes from the marketplace. The whole thing will cost approximately 500, if the facility has no freezer you will need to factor in dry ice cost of 80.00 per treatment, as well as the cost of a cooler. The rental will be 600.00 a month, you will also have to pay for shipping both ways. For a minimal 4 treatment regimen the rental will be 2000 vs 500 to buy, dry ice will add at least 325 to the 4 treatmentās. It will be necessary to have a helper at all treatmentās as it will be impossible to successfully accomplish on your own.
Hi everyone. All been well I am having my 6th and final fec tomorrow!! I have managed to keep a covering of hair and itās very thin but itās still hanging on in there! I am planning on using the nixoin shampoo and conditioner and I just wondered if any of you past cold clappers could tell me if itās ok to use thus straight away or should I continue with the simple regime for a while? Iām just desperate to start getting whats left of my old hair in better condition and for my new hair to start growing! Thankyou xx
I had my hair cut and coloured about 6 weeks after chemo and all was fine. Once youāve finished chemo I think itās fine to use your normal hair products. During chemo you have to be careful of any reactions that could lead to infection. Take a long k at the advice on cancerhaircare website.
Hi everyone, I finished my chemo two weeks and just wondered when it was safe for me to wash my hair?
its driving me mad scalp really itchy and flaky Iām dying to wash it in snow nixoin shampoo but. Didnāt know if I should wait a bit longer, havenāt got much left and donāt want anymore to fall out! Lol xx
Hi all,
Sorry I havenāt been on for a while got crazy busy!!! I have now had four fec and so far two Tās have two more left. I am shedding like mad on the docetaxol im losing handfuls when I wash it yet by go the grace of god have an overall coverage still. Praying it lasts the final two. My hair has grown throughout and there are tons of tiny hairs. My head is full of flajes though Iām using teatree and castor oil to ease it. Something that most cold cappers donāt know you can have a sedative to take twenty mins before I now have this due to me being really sick for two chemos it wasnāt the chemo but I had a nervous tummy every time I saw the cold cap I was sick but no longer and it doesnāt hurt because I sleep through it now so perfect!!! You donāt have to suffer through speak to your onchologist they canāt refuse you if your in pain or it makes you ill.
Iāve used a wooden wide toothed comb from the body shop it is amazing well worth buying and take collagen and biotin most days I think this has helped with the hair growth Iād say itās grown maybe an inch or two since the start. I still have dread about my last two as I feel like Iām so close but I could still lose my hair. Does anyone know how long after chemo stops the shedding stops on adverage?
Thank you in advance 
Lulabelle sounds like youāre nearly there! I cold capped through 3x fec and 11x weekly paclitaxol. I only experi significant shedding after the first fec - huge handfuls and clumps fell out. After that it wasnāt noticeable and like you by the time Iād finished I had a good couple of inches of new growth all over.
Hello-I am about to start chemo and am considering the cold cap. I have found 2 that look like they have a successful outcome. One is from Penguin Cold Caps and the other is Polar Cold Caps. Would love any opinions on these 2 companies or if someone knows of another company they has success with. Thanks!
Hi DWM, there are lots of comments all over this site about makes and private hires. Does your hospital provide this service or do you have to hire? Mine used Paxman which have the cap attached to a fridge like cooling unit which maintains the temperature throughout treatment. I had great success with this and there are lots of positive reviews on here.
The other types (I think the ones youāre suggesting) have several caps kept in the freezer and you have to swap them over every 20 mins or so. I believe that these were less effective as the temperature fluctuates and you rely on someone getting them out for you.
Cancerhaircare.com give very good online advice and tips.
Good luck, I really hope you find a system to suit you - hair loss is psychologically very stressful x
Well I have finished eight in total of fec-t and have a full head of hair itās three weeks just over after my last one and Iāve stopped shedding finally!!! Still have the flakiest head ever but am very grateful for a full head!!! Iāve got so much regrowth itās crazy!!! Mine was paxman and 100% worth itā¦ I wish you all the best of luck and every success with your treatment and cold capping xxx
Thank you for the update regarding pax man. Iāve done 3 x fec and hair still looks OK very fine so shedding isnāt that noticeable. Looking forward to trying regrowth shampoos. If head is dry try an overnight olive oil soak. Very soothing xx
Hi Patricia your best bet is to leave it alone and use a head scarf or fancy hat the more your message with it the more it will.fall.out.x
I washed my hair once a week throughout, let it dry naturally or use a cool setting on your hair drier. I used a very soft scrunchie to put it in a loose bun - with an effective combover to hide the thinning scalp!
I also wrapped my hair in an old tshirt not a towel to protect it. I think that the finer your hair the better you fare because the blood supply isnāt as good as on thick hair. X
Keenchild - you can get one free on the NHS, ask your breast care nurse.
I just finished my last round of chemo (total of 4 treatments over 12 weeks: TC), using the Arctic Cold Cap system. I still have hair! I lost about 60%, and admittedly had a lot to lose given I had ābig hairā - thick and lots of it.
Arctic has been very supportive, however, I learned lessons along the way that were not necessarily explicit from the onset, and wish I had known early on.
- No hats. I live in a climate in the Pacific NW, in the US, that sees some cold temps in the winter (temps in teens, and in 20s-30s during our coldest stints) though mostly stays pretty temperate
(40s-50s). We had several cold snaps this winter and I wore hats for the first several weeks during treatment.
I stopped wearing hats after my Cold Cap support nurse (via phine) told me to stop and to actually expose my head to cold temps in between treatments. Hard to do on early morning walks for exercise in freezing temps, but I did it (with ear protectors/headband around forehead). Started this practice halfway through.
- Also, some of the cold caps were defective, which we didnāt realize until halfway through treatment. The were ripply and ābunched upā in the crown. As soon as we realized they wouldnāt smooth out, no matter the tactics we tried when freezing, we contacted Arctic and they shipped replacement caps immediately. Unfortunately, we already went through 2 treatments at this point, so I do think the areas on my crown where I have the most thinning/baldness, is a result of that. We werenāt getting enough contact there. Being so new to all of this, we just werenāt on it quickly enough. Strategic comb overs do help - those and headbands. And, because I lost so much hair on my crown, I was worried about abscesses, and fort unduly had cut my hair to shoulder length prior to starting treatment, so we were able to bring that hair forward and place it on top of my head, under the hair net, to cover the bald spots during capping. I also used two hair nets to keep it all in place and cut down on the tearing and shredding of the hair net as you change caps every 20 minutes. On treatment days, I was in my caps for 10 hours.
Iāve been very strict about following all the protocols. Washing with clear, organic products twice a week, using an organic detangler each time I comb with a wide tooth comb, with some rinsing in between washes - all with as cool water as I can stand, just on my hair, in shower. I went from being able to hold a ponytail in my fist, to a tiny cluster between my thumb and pointer finger. But I still have hair, and if you didnāt know me and what it looked like before, you really canāt tell!
Hope this helps. Good luck to all of you!! Just celebrated last chemo yesterday. Stay strong and take care.