One very difficult aspect that concerns many people when it comes to undergoing chemotherapy treatment is the hair loss. Chemotherapy drugs will typically result in the loss of all or most of your hair as the drugs reach your hair follicles.

However, cold caps are used to reduce the amount of hair that you use by freezing your scalp so that the chemotherapy drugs do not reach your hair follicles and you can keep a larger portion of your hair. These caps will typically consist of a close-fitting skullcap that is either filled with freezing gel or that you can pump liquid coolant through. Listed below are two tips that can help you get the most benefit out of your cold caps.

Find A Treatment Center With A Biomedical Freezer

One great way to get the most out of your cold cap is to go to a chemotherapy clinic or treatment center that offers their patients the use of a biomedical freezer. This is very useful as it can allow you to get the cold cap to the desired temperature (-15 to -40 degrees Fahrenheit) while you are undergoing chemotherapy.

This is also quite useful because it means that you do not have to freeze a cap at home and have it warm up on the drive over to the clinic or while you are being treated. While you could technically use a cooler with dry ice to transport multiple caps with you to the treatment center, that is quite inconvenient and physically taxing. 

Discuss The Cold Cap With Your Doctor

One of the most important things that you should do before buying cold caps is to speak with your doctor about how well cold caps have worked for previous patients on your particular chemotherapy regimen. The reason for this is that the chemotherapy drugs can vary quite a bit depending on the severity of your condition and the type of cancer that you have. Since the drugs can vary so much, there will be some instances where the cold cap may be ineffective or only be able to save a smaller percentage of your hair.

Contact a cold cap manufacturer or your local medical supply store in order to discuss which type of cold cap would be the best fit for you. In order to get the most out of your cold cap, you will want to use cancer treatment centers with a freezer, discuss the track record of cold caps with your particular medication, and take extra care with your hair.