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After doctors diagnosed Paula Estrada with breast cancer in 2009, the then 41-year-old Argentinian was determined not only to overcome the disease, but also to do so without losing her long blonde hair to the effects of chemotherapy. I made up my mind.
At his home in Buenos Aires, professional graphic designer Estrada began creating a makeshift cooling cap with ice packs to keep his scalp cool and prevent hair loss.
It worked, and “no one knew I was on chemotherapy,” said Estrada, now 54.
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Scalp cooling, a method of constricting blood vessels and preventing chemotherapy drugs from reaching hair follicles, has existed in one form or another for decades. was introduced in 2017 and received US FDA approval in 2017.
But in 2009, cooling caps were unknown in Argentina, Estrada said.
“When I finished, I said I wasn’t going to keep this for myself, I wanted everyone to have this as a possibility,” she recalled.
Estrada’s “Quimo con pelo” cap can be made with gel for just $2. This is a life saver for countries facing economic hardship and where alternative cooling caps cost him as much as $100 a time.
On social media, patients from Argentina and around the world share how to make their caps and donate them when finished.
The cap should be used from the first chemotherapy session, kept at -4 degrees Fahrenheit (-20 degrees Celsius), and replaced every 30 minutes.
Cooling caps help women keep hair during breast cancer chemotherapy
“It’s worth it,” said Mariangeles Fernandez, a 48-year-old liver cancer patient. “It allows you to fight disease in a different way.”
Estrada, who is now writing a book about her experience, says she hears daily from patients whose cancer course has improved with Cap.
“I think[the hat]was key to my state of mind,” said Elsa Ram, a 64-year-old retiree and breast cancer survivor. “It’s a big part of good therapy.”