New Scalp-Cooling Devices May Help Patients Keep Their Hair During Chemotherapy
I’ve posted before about how keeping your hands and nails very cool while getting a chemotherapy transfusion may help to reduce skin and nail damage. The same idea is now propelling an exciting new study that may help some cancer patients hold onto more of their hair—by using a scalp-cooling device.
For many people—women especially—hair loss as a result of chemotherapy can be particularly traumatic. Women have fewer bald role models than men, and can suffer difficult feelings of self-consciousness low self-esteem in response to losing their hair. Susan Beausang, an expert on the issue and founder of 4women.com, puts it well when she writes, “For a woman, a bald head is an announcement to the world—’I'm different,’ or ‘I’m sick.’” No one wants to feel that way. I remember the experience well—above all, I wanted to feel normal, and losing my hair made me feel anything but.
The good news is that there are people out there trying to make this part of treatment just a little bit better. Wake Forest Baptist University Medical Center and the University of California at San Francisco have received approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to investigate a device called the “DigniCap” made by a company called Dignitana of Lund in Sweden. It’s a silicone cap that you wear on your head, with an outer neoprene cap that insulates the inner one. The cap is connected to a cooling unit that delivers consistent cooling to all areas of the scalp. The idea is the cool temperatures make the hair roots and follicles contract, reducing the amount of toxins that affect them—which slows or completely halts hair loss.
There are some side effects to using it. It’s cold, after all, and some patients experience headaches, but so far, it looks like these are the only side effects reported—well worth it for most people who want to keep their hair on their heads. The company has taken precautions to make sure temperatures are carefully controlled—the unit is connected to a computer with a touch-screen and simple symbols. If something goes wrong, an alarm goes off.
What’s promising is that clinics in Canada, Europe, and Japan are already using this cap, and the Dignitana website says that more than 80 percent of patients have kept their hair during chemotherapy. Can you imagine? In addition, Susan Melin, M.D. and lead investigator for the study, says that data from several international studies show that the device is safe to use and does prevent hair loss.1
As far as I know, there’s no way to get ahold of a DigniCap here in the U.S. at this time (although I’m not positive on that—you could contact the company directly from their site). There are other similar devices, but it seems they’re all made out of country. One is called a “Paxman Cooler,” looks very similar to the DigniCap, and is used throughout the U.K. There’s another one made in Israel called the SCS II—Scalp Cooling System. So I think it’s safe to say that this idea is catching on.
Ask the cancer centers near you if they have anything like this. If not, you may consider other ways to keep your head cool, such as frozen veggies or cold cloths dipped in ice water. They aren’t likely to work as well as the temperature won’t be consistent across the scalp, but it may be worth a try.
Have you tried any cooling methods to deter hair loss? Please share your story.
Source
1. “Scalp Cooling Study Starts in U.S.” Breast Cancer World News March 9, 2011. http://breastcancerworldnews.com/?p=188.
Photo courtesy Dignitana via dignitana.com.
These are so great and thank you for sharing the news. I actually tracked a version of this down when I was being treated for cancer in 2006. The cold caps were already available in England. However, my diagnosis was for lymphoma, a blood cancer, not a solid cancer such as lung, breast, colon or prostate. Patients with blood cancers (lymphoma, leukemia, myeloma, etc.)can’t use these because we dare not let any cancer cells circulating in our systems escape. The cooling restricts blood flow, and hence chemo drug flow, to the scalp.
I hear from my friends in the UK that the cooling caps are a bit uncomfortable and as infusion rooms are usually chilly, a patient should dress very warmly, maybe even bring a heating pad, to keep from getting too cold. But they all felt that the discomfort was nothing compared to the discomfort of having no hair for months. Thanks for this wonderful blog. You are so inspiring and so full of practical and sensitive advice. ~ Liz
Carole W
28th Nov 2011
Hi I have just recently finished my treatment for breast cancer at the City Hospital in Peterborough, I did use the cold cap and it was very sucessful I have managed to keep 95% of my hair albeit very thin I found once you have the cap on after the shock of the cold its fine, I think you have to take yourself off to a nice place unless you have someone sitting beside you or another person having treatment.
I still lose hair but not to much most days and try not to wash or fiddle with it unless I have to, but on the whole it is certainly worth a try at PCO they now have some new caps and they look a lot tighter around the head hence my losing some on the crown of my head.
Two months on my hair is starting to grow back but eyelashes have fallen out, never mind they will grow I’m sure.
Good luck to all keep your spirits up it does get better
Carole
Please take a look at our website http://www.coolheadwarmheart.co.uk which aims to raise awareness of scalp cooling – a treatment which not that many people know about.
Its aim is to spread the word that hair loss as a result of chemotherapy is NOT inevitable.
We’re trying to spread the message worldwide so please do tell people about us and get in touch if you would like any information.
Hi, Megan! Thanks so much for writing in! And thanks for alerting our community to this site—definitely full of great information about scalp cooling. Anyone who’s interested in possibly preserving their hair through treatments should check out this site. This product is available in the U.K.—Liz, can U.S. patients benefit as well?
Just finished chemo for breast cancer using a scalp cooler in the UK. Only had a bit of thinning at the back behind my ears where the cap didn’t fit as tightly. Otherwise my hair stayed soft and full. Works best with a short haircut. It does give you quite a painful headache for about 5 mins but then your scalp goes numb and it is just vaguely uncomfortable after that. I just tried to imagine the hot Colorado sun beating down on my head until it became bearable. As I am originally from the US I was amazed to find it isn’t available over there. I know women here who used it 15 years ago!
Well worth it. I like being able to go out in public without feeling I am attracting attention. (Although you don’t get the same level of sympathy – the most common comment I get from people is “But you look so well…!)
PS. Bring a hot water bottle to cuddle!
Wendy, thank you so much for this first-person report. It helps a lot to hear it from someone who’s actually used the scalp cooler. I’m with you—can’t believe we don’t have it here in the U.S. I’m hoping as we get more people asking about it we can change that. How amazing that you kept so much of your hair. And don’t worry—we definitely feel sympathy for you! ;o)
Hi there,
I have a question for Lizzie Mc…
I have been trying to find out information about whether its safe to use the cold cap whilst undergoing chemotherapy with Hodgkins lymphoma…& I couldnt find information anywhere – Im from Australia (22 yrs old) and my oncoligist said it was okay to where the cooling cap as hodgkins lymphoma is restricted to your lymphnodes and not in your blood. But i dont think he understands what the cooling cap does as its not popular in Australia – Im starting chemo in a few days (FRI) nd woul love if someone could give me any information asap xxxx
Hi, Sammy. We are not doctors here, so I would advise you to follow your doctor’s advice, or perhaps to get a second opinion. I can direct you, however, to check out this article: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-01-04/health/sc-health-0104-chemo-cap-20120104_1_dignicap-hair-loss-follicles. It notes a study at the University Hospital in Sweden where they used the cap on patients with Hodgkin’s lymphoma and found it prevented hair loss. I personally think you would be fine using it. Let us know how you do!