Hair Loss and Cancer. It Can Feel Devastating…
My mom loves her hair. I mean LOVES her hair. It’s long, red, and, even at that length, has a signature spiral curl that has been passed through generations. One of my life’s most poignant moments involves a phone call with mom because her hair began to fall out from chemotherapy.
My mom had stage 4 cancer. We were so worried about saving her life, the hair loss really didn’t matter, I would tell her. In reality, the day she told me, my heart was breaking for her, because I knew what it meant, so I never shed a tear during that call. But, what she may never know, is that when I hung up with her, I cried, because yet another level of cruel suffering had materialized. And what I regretted more, I had a chance to avoid this a month earlier….Always trust your gut.
I had heard about cold cap treatment for chemotherapy induced hair loss. The doctor said that he wasn’t convinced that she experience hair loss. My mom held onto that thought – always remaining positive. I had offered to buy a cold cap because I knew what her hair meant to her. Once it started to fall out, it was too late. I know that men value their hair too, but, for women, it truly is a part of their identity and femininity. And honestly, it could be a viable option for you or someone close to you.
Some version of the cold cap has been around since the 1970s. Since the medication list is long and complicated for cancer patients, a significant benefit is that this option involves no additional medications. This treatment, as well as so many other options, may be considered controversial in the US medical community. My advice is to discuss this with your doctor and then make the best decision for you. Below, are some highlighted facts that I have obtained from objective literature sources, different cancer organizations, and a couple experts in the field. If you conduct a cold cap search on line, buyer beware. There are some wonderful effective products and some are not so great. Be careful.
- Cold caps are considered standard treatment in some European countries and Japan. The US is just beginning to explore cold cap treatment. The overall best results were seen in the Netherlands, likely related to the product used, not the patient population.
- A 2015 study was performed on a recently FDA approved device involving stage 2 breast cancer patients. 65% of patients had less than 25% hair loss. The rest had varying hair loss amounts, with 10% having >75% hair loss. Side effects included headaches and a cold feeling during therapy, but no patients discontinued therapy related to cold intolerance.
- Important product selection factors include: cold cap scalp fit, degree of cooling (various studies suggest that for hair preservation, you need <22°C), and chemotherapy regimen (not all cancer drugs cause hair loss as a side effect and not all regimens have been studied with cold caps).
- It can be expensive, with costs ranging from $500 – 800/month. However, I also found some wonderful organizations trying to offset that cost.
- Please know, there is a small chance that cancer cells can hide in hair follicles and that by protecting the follicles, you could be protecting cancer cells. However, in US studies, there was NO evidence of lower cure rates and NO increase in relapse rates from cold cap therapy. Personally, I would avoid this treatment with any brain/head cancer, just because of geographic location.
Here’s my opinion. It improves quality of life. If your doctor is NOT adamantly against it, and you have a reputable product and can cover the cost, I think it’s worth the effort. Personally, the cost would have been worth saving my mother’s tears and suffering. I wished I would have done more for her. I couldn’t fix the cancer, but it could have saved many, many tears.
