[Magdalen] Cold caps in chemotherapy

[Sally Davies]

Dear Pub friends

I have an interesting assignment from my sister, to write a piece on her
website about cold cap treatment which is a strategy for preventing hair
loss during chemotherapy.

I just spoke to a former patient who did that and managed to save her hair
- which was long and still is!

It involved quite a rigmarole, they had to get Dry Ice in (from elsewhere)
for the caps, change caps every twenty minutes on "chemo day" and ensure
that any skin not already protected by hair (such as the ears) was covered
to prevent frostbite!

But after six sessions of chemo - lovely natural hair. This patient had
been through chemo baldness before, as a teenager, and had been traumatised
by it so she was highly motivated to manage the cold caps

Not for everyone I'm sure and perhaps wouldn't even work for everyone, but
she says that overseas (US/UK) chemo treatment facilities offer the caps
routinely and even have specialised apparatus for fast freezing them.

Has anyone in the Pub come across these? And if so, did they work or was
the head-freezing just useful as a distraction during an awful time in a
person's life?

Sally D