Polar Active Ice® 3.0 Circulating Cold Water Therapy System, Cooler with 8.5 Litres

Después de mi operación de meniscos, me prestaron una máquina similar, de las transparentes que no se programan. Compré esta para tener la mía. Que diferencia! La diferencia en ruido es realmente increíble. Día y noche. Es muy silenciosa. Y el control para programar es muy práctico y cómodo estando en el cable tipo remoto. Muy recomendable.

While planning for spinal fusion surgery, I started working out how I was going to manage every bit of my recovery without being a burden on my husband. One of the issues was ice packs at night. If I’m not mobile enough to get in and out of bed unaided, how will I be switching out ice packs every twenty minutes all night long? That's too much of an ask of a spouse. My dental hygienist recommended the "Ice Machine" they'd used for her son after his shoulder surgery. It had been prescribed by their physician and supplied by the durable medical equipment team at their hospital. I asked my surgeon and was told they don't supply them anymore. Though the hygienist offered to loan it to me, I don't feel like I know her well enough to take her up on her offer. (It might have been one of those spontaneous offers that wasn't actually an offer, you know what I mean?) So, I was really glad to find the Polar Active Ice system here on Amazon. Since I did not get a prescription for this kit, I wasn't able to put it through insurance, but it's not outrageously expensive, and it wasn't a waste of money so I'm happy. This will not be one of those pieces of hardware you buy, use for a few weeks, and forget. Between my husband and I, we will use this again. The pre-surgery plan was that my husband would help me get positioned in bed with the cold pack on my surgical site, I’d set the timer for cold on/cold off durations, set the temperature from 1 (cold) - 4 (coldest), and we'd both sleep through the night. Post-surgery experience was more nuanced. The pad that comes with this back/hip kit has a long elastic attached and the idea is that you put the pad on the incision, wrap the elastic around the patient, and Velcro it in place. I think that configuration likely works well if the patient is mobile – which I was not early on -- or is using it during the daytime -- which was not. (I'm actually restricted from Bending, Lifting, Twisting, Pushing or Pulling for another month.) At first, we couldn't figure out how to set it up so I could sleep with the pad comfortably because the pad is not giant and the fill-hose is well, right there (where the fill-hose belongs but kind of in the way). I ordered up the larger pad accessory. It’s a lot bigger than I mentally processed (it covers my entire torso laying down), but it swapped right in with this kit and worked very well early on after the operation when everything hurt and positioning myself exactly on the smaller back pad was very painful. When I started to feel a bit feverish, the larger pad helped bring my temperature down without taking more meds. Now that I'm more mobile, I have been able to switch back to the pad that came with this kit at night and that's been working well. I lay the pad down on the bed and extend the strap up under my pillow. I figured out where to sit on the bed so I can log-roll right onto the pad and the weight of my body holds it in place. I've never tossed or turned much at night, so this works well for me. The pump is audible, but not loud -- like white noise, unnoticeable and somewhat soothing while I'm slowing down for the night and sleeping. Recommendation to users is to put a towel between you and the pad so you don't "burn" your skin and cover the hose with that towel as well. You will forget that it gets really cold, too. Another recommendation from others that I will repeat is to use frozen bottles of water inside the cooler box because they last longer and are easier to change out than ice alone. Peel the labels off so they don't accidently come unglued and plug up the pump. I've been drinking a lot of PowerAide Zero in recovery and those bottles work well - the labels come right off and they nest with each other nicely. We actually have been able to moderate the cold intensity by reducing the number of frozen water bottles in the box. With a full box of frozen water bottles, even the lowest setting is pretty darn cold. BTW, I have been recommending this kit to everybody. If you see a spike in sales from the metro Detroit area, you can credit me a commission. ;-) A design suggestion, I would create a hose connection on the edge of the cooler, rather than as it is currently a couple of feet along a hose that protrudes from the cooler. A connection at the cooler box would make it more storable -- all the parts could be rolled up and shut inside the cooler box. Otherwise, THANK YOU for a great product that is making my recovery from a rather scary surgery more bearable.

Game changer for knee surgery recovery!! Helpfull advice use frozen waterbottles instead of ice. You can rotate them and not have to keep getting ice to fill it. Very quailty built and easy to move around.

The machine (cooler) and timer are excellent. However, the lumbar lower back pad that can with the sytem I purchased is essentially unusable post surgery. Look closely (I wish I had done so prior to making my purchase), three of the photos show a woman and man in a standing position while wearing the pad. Now look at where the tubing connects to the pad. Notice it's running down from the lower back, and between your crotch. This might be okay if you're in a standing position, but you can't walk anywhere while connected to the cooling box. For post surgical pain relief, you want to be laying down in bed. Try doing that with the large double tube and the point of connection near your surgical incision! Likewise, you can't position the pad as shown if using a recliner or chair, for the same reason. My solution was to cut off the velcro strap and turn the pad into a vertical position so the tubing/connection is at your side when laying down, and using the strap similiar to a belt to hold the pad in-place when laying down. Another problem is the point where the tubing connects to the pad. In the supine position (laying down), moving your hips sometimes cut the flow of cold water down to a trickle. To be fair, I contacted the company by phone and they responded with a replacement pad, But this was way to large for my 5'6" frame, so I ended up using my modified pad with the velcro strap cut off. As soon as I reached 5 days post surgery, I switched from cold to heat, so I'm no longer using the product. As a point of information, familiy members have used this same type of machine with the shoulder and knee pads, and they work great. In those situations, the tubing simply hangs down off the side and doesn't interfere with any position. No so for the lumbar back pad. I guesss that's why the photos show the people standing upright.

This has been a lifesaver. I used it before major spine surgery just to survive and bought extra attachments including the knee and the big flat one. After surgery it has also been amazing. regular ice packs work for a bit but this one is great for overnight. I have it set for 10 mins on and 30 mins off. Sometimes i turn it off around 3 am and then turn it on again at 6. Friends got them through their MD for A LOT more money. This will be our go to for years.