Polar Active Ice® 3.0 Cold Therapy Ice Machine System with Programmable Timer, 38"x22" Blanket Pad, 16 Quart Cooler, Quiet Pump, Strong Cryotherapy Pain Relief Treatment

We have used this at least a couple dozen evenings post shoulder surgery. We fill it with 11 or 12 frozen sparkling ice bottles, then a gallon and a third or so of water (leave 10-15 percent air in your bottles before freezing). We did not need to have on hand more bottles to change out because the 11 bottles stay cold for hours, easily lasting 4 or 5 on/off cycles, maybe more. The nice touches are: the suitcase-style telescoping handle to wheel it around, the quiet operation, the simple and effective duty cycle and flow-rate control. I worried initially about the hose connections leaking, but they are stout and have never leaked at all. I put some silicone grease on the o-rings just for extra presumed longevity, but nothing told me to do that and it probably is not needed. The therapy pads I worried about as well, but they do not leak either, in our experience. We did find some condensation might be present after a few cycles at the end of the evening. We bought the shoulder and arm therapy pad to use with this (as well as the shoulder-focused pad), and we found that the shoulder and arm therapy pad works a tad more effectively for the surgery (rotator cuff repair and bicep tenodesis) we were addressing because it was the bicep that hurt more than the top of shoulder, and the shoulder and arm pad can very effectively address both. We found that putting a washcloth between the pad and the clothed shoulder was a good way to avoid getting areas too cold that one isn't trying to address. We found that with the shoulder and arm therapy pad, flow rate 2 (out of max 4) was generally adequate. This is a good bargain -- it's a tad expensive, but we found no unexpected difficulties, no kinks, bugs, etc -- apparently any such have long been worked out by the company. I just bought the small lower back pad and the foot/bootie pad, so we're sold as far as those sorts of things go. This was proven to reduce pain levels considerably, especially good in the first week, and further to lessen the amount of pain meds to take.

This ice therapy machine is an absolute must have for post surgical healing. After having fully torn two of my rotator cuff tendons, partial bicep, tear, and labor and tear I needed surgery. This ice therapy machine was a game changer for my recovery. I started using it on day two post op, and could tell her right away it was worth its weight in gold! Everybody knows how important ice therapy is to proper healing to keep inflammation down, but having a way to do it automatically is awesome. Love how it can be set for as many minutes on and then as many minutes off as you like, or it can run continuously For over 900 minutes. Learned several tips and tricks along the way. Including using frozen 1 gallon plastic milk containers filled with water to reduce the amount of ice changes during the day. The machine is whisper quiet does not leak is very easy to assemble and get going right away!

I had a double knee replacement a week ago. This was so easy to use and performed well functionally. Easy to empty and refill. Nice size tank that lasts a long time without frequent refills. No leaks/very sturdy. Easy to assemble and take apart. The packs circulated water gently and fully. I used a clean pillow case between my knee and the pad since I was using the highest cold setting. Yes, it even has multiple cold settings!! The timer remote is wonderful. You can set it for 10, 20, 30 minutes off and 10,20, 30 minutes on so you don’t have to take the pads on and off. Just set and forget. I loved that it offered a version with a pad for each knee so I could ice both at the same time. A friend purchased two separate ice machines which took up more space and a little more to manage. This machine is only one tank with two pads so takes up much less space and has a very nice pullout handle and wheels making it easy to move around. Not too noisy during operation- very quiet. Tubing is sturdy and solid so no leakage and the machine comes with a 1 year manufacturer’s warranty. I can’t say enough about how great this machine is. Well worth the cost.