Breast cancer patients at Mohawk Valley Health System’s Cancer Center can now use a cooling cap that may help them keep their hair during chemotherapy.

The center was recently cleared by the FDA to use the cold cap device.

Dr. Alicia DeTraglia, the center’s medical director, said the cap constricts blood vessels that feed the hair follicles.

“It allows some patients to keep their hair throughout chemotherapy,” DeTraglia said.

The treatment takes commitment, she said. Patients must arrive early for their infusion, then stay about two hours afterward to wear the cap.

“You have to come here early. They have to get their infusion and then they have to stay oftentimes two hours after the infusion to wear the cap,” DeTraglia said.

Patients wet their hair and place the cap on their head, and the device cools to 0 degrees Fahrenheit. Because of the cold, DeTraglia said, some people can experience headaches, nausea and dizziness.

Kristina Rommel, a breast cancer survivor, said she learned about cold capping from her teenage son after her diagnosis.

“My son was 16 at the time. He’s like, ‘Mom, why don’t you do the cold capping?’ And I’m like, ‘What is that?'” Rommel said.

She was diagnosed on her daughter’s birthday, a day that was already one of the best of her life.

“Our world was turned upside down. But I tried to keep it as normal as possible the entire time,” Rommel said. “Between work and family and activities, we try to keep everything on a day-to-day schedule as we have before.”

Rommel said losing her hair was the hardest part of treatment, from the chemotherapy through surgery.

“You’re in the shower and you start getting clumps of hair in your hand, and it ends up on the shower floor,” she said. “My hair was my security blanket. I’ve never had short hair, nonetheless, no hair. So it was very traumatic.”

MVHS was not approved to offer cold capping when Rommel was in treatment, so she wore a wig.

She said she supports the option for other patients if they do their research and are comfortable with it.

“If somebody is willing to sit there a little bit extra long, two hours longer than to save your hair, then I think that’s a wonderful, wonderful thing,” Rommel said.