What is Cold Cap Therapy?
Cold Cap Therapy, or scalp cooling, involves the use of a special cap or set of caps, cooled to very cold temperatures, and worn for a period before, during and after each chemotherapy treatment. It is believed that the cold temperature constricts the blood vessels leading to the hair follicles, reducing the amount of chemo drugs that reach the follicles during the period that the caps are worn; also, that the cold puts the follicles "to sleep," temporarily limiting their metabolic activity. (Of note, the drugs stay in the patient's system far longer, but reach the hair follicles when they are at somewhat diluted strength.) This process has been in use in Europe for over 20 years. Many thousands of patients in the United States have learned of and successfully used Cold Cap Therapy in the last few years.
Penguin Cold Caps
Our experience is solely with using Penguin Cold Caps. For more information on Penguin Cold Caps, visit their website:
​
Other Cold Cap Options
There are several other Cold Cap options, including both machine capping systems and manual capping systems. For an overview of the options, visit The Rapunzel Project website which provides details:
Videos of Cold Capping
Two videos below showing how to use Penguin Cold Caps. The first is Shannon capping Marci. The second is a video someone else posted on YouTube that we thought was very helpful.