Patients haul a collection of caps to chemo sessions on dry ice, or store them in special freezers provided by about 50 hospitals. The FDA declined comment on the Penguin caps.

Cold cap therapy, which is currently in trials and not yet approved by the FDA, involves wearing caps frozen between 15 and 40 degrees Fahrenheit before, during, and after a chemotherapy session.

Cooling caps haven't been studied much in the U.S., and only one is approved by the FDA. Studies of two different caps show they can reduce hair loss by half in many women undergoing chemo.

They would, and I will be taking the hats there Friday, Feb. 16. "This is great! Thank you so much! … our patients love them!" wrote Ana Costa, the nurse there to whom I bring all of our chemo caps.

The caps work because the cold temperature restricts blood flow to the scalp and that cuts back on the impact of chemotherapy to the follicles, according to Cap & Conquer's website.

Scalp cooling, or cold caps, kept me from going bald while undergoing chemo for breast cancer. But why don’t more insurance companies cover it? I had an easier time accepting the recommendation ...

COOLING CAPS HELP WOMEN KEEP HAIR DURING BREAST CANCER CHEMO "It's worth it," said Mariangeles Fernandez, a 48-year-old liver cancer patient. "It lets you fight the disease in a different way." ...

Cold cap therapy describes the process of lowering your scalp’s temperature before, during, and after chemotherapy treatment. “Cold caps work by constricting the blood vessels in the scalp, ...

Scalp cooling, or cold caps, kept me from going bald while undergoing chemo for breast cancer. But why don’t more insurance companies cover it? I had an easier time accepting the recommendation ...