Medical Minute: Cold Cap Therapy

When a patient is diagnosed with cancer they have many questions about what the future will hold. One of those questions for many is “will I lose my hair?” Hair loss as a side effect from chemotherapy can be devastating for some. And while the hair will typically grow back after treatment, there is now a way to prevent losing most of your hair in the first place.

It’s called Cold Cap Therapy and it’s available to patients through the Over My Head Boutique. According to Penguin Cold Caps, it’s a “non-invasive technique of scalp cooling, which has been proven to be successful in minimizing hair loss.”

“We’ve had our program up and running since January of last year,” said Bethany Golden, president of Over My Head. “We’re basically freezing patients' scalps in order to save their hair during some chemotherapy agents.”

Patients wear their cold caps during and after treatment and they, along with a support person, are trained in how to use them by the team at Over My Head.

“We do a preliminary training here at the boutique,” said Golden. “It teaches the patient and the support person what a cap looks like, how to put on a cap, the timing, etc. And then we do some real-time training at the first chemotherapy infusion. That way we are able to do any trouble shooting that may come up at that time.

A team of associates from OhioHealth and Over My Head worked together to bring this service to patients.  Any OhioHealth patient has access to the Cold Cap Therapy program at Over My Head.  Additionally, if patients from OhioHealth need assistance covering the cost of the treatment, the OhioHealth Foundation is available to help with funding.

To learn more about Cold Cap Therapy, contact the Over My Head Boutique at (614) 566.4700 or email info@overmyheadboutique.com. Over My Head is located inside the Bing Cancer Center.