ACE Brand Cold/Hot Compress Back Wrap Blue

Ordered based on reviews and glad i did. I like having the flexibility of being able to do both cold and hot therapy. The belt with the mesh pocket is great and like others have pointed out, if you have a larger waist then it will not work for you unless some extra length is added to the belt with velcro. For the warm therapy you heat up the gel pack for 20 seconds and if not warm enough you can do 15 seconds increments until desired warmth is achieved. Make sure you are watching the gel pack and if it starts to inflate stop the microwave to avoid the bursting of the pack. The cold/hot gel pack fits in the mesh pocket, but i wish they had designed the pocket with the opening on the top instead of on the sides as it tends to slide out. Also, the gel pack tends to bunch up towards the bottom due to gravity, but overall it works really good for its intended purpose.

I like the back strap but the ice pack is smaller than i thought. It is comfortable to wear though and i added an extra ice pack in there. Does the job for my sore back

It just fits my waist (36"), but is too small for my partner's. We're keeping it anyway.

These are the best back supports ever. I don't have any problems with the gel packs falling out. You just have to get the hang of it. Once it's on, they can't fall out. I’m updating my review to say that I really couldn’t live well without these. I have sacroillitis and do a lot of gardening. I’m constantly screwing up my back. I use the wrap without the gel pack just to give my lower back extra support. If I need it, I put an ice pack in. The Velcro has held up well over the past five years. The wrap is 39.5” long unstretched with another 2” of velcro. I stretch it out quite a bit and then lock it with the Velcro. I’m buying another one now just in case they quit making them.

I purchased 3 cold packs for lower back and they all work OK, they all got cold enough, they all stayed cold for 20 minutes (what my doctor recommends). However, overall the best one for me was Lower Back Gel Beads Hot & Cold Therapy Wrap Compress Pack + Fabric Cover - Reusable gel beads provides both ice / heat pain relief and rehab treatments. Great for sports injuries, chronic pain + more . It fits well, even for a 40"+ waist. The belt is a simple elastic with velcro that is very easy to use. The belt is a bit long but you can cut it to get rid of some of the extra bulk if you like. I was a little concerned with the belt attaching directly to the gel bead pack, but after a few months it's holding up fine. I like the cloth cover, it makes it comfortable even directly on skin. The second product is ACE Compress Back Wrap, Cold/Hot . This a good product as well, and if my waist was just a couple inches smaller (38" or less) I would probably give it 5 stars. I really like the belt material, and the velcro is easy to use except for the fact that it's a couple inches too small for me. If Ace would offer an extension for the belt (just a 6" length of the belt fabric with velcro on one end) it would be great without making it too bulky for people with a smaller waist. The pouch for the standard cold pack is bit of a nuisance, they should close one end and make the opening a bit smaller on the other end so the pack doesn't slip out so easily. The third product is TheraPearl Back Wrap, Reusable Hot Cold Therapy Pack . I really wanted to like this one, it's got the biggest cold pack of the three and seems like a simple, easy to use belt. However, it has one serious drawback: the buckle. This just a bad design. It is clumsy to put on and take off yourself. The buckle tends to twist while you are wearing it and can make it a real pain to remove. If the buckle side just had a longer piece of the belt material so I could ignore the buckle and velcro to the belt on that side, it would be a much better product.