Ice Therapy Machines Experiences/Recommendations?

[Lex P]

Hello, I tore my exterior meniscus this fall doing squats to recover from breaking my tibia skiing the previous season (yup). I've been skiing thanks to cortisone shots but with Squaw/Mammoth staying open into July I'm pulling the trigger on a menisectomy next week. Has anybody used one of these ice therapy machines which my doctor recommends? They vary widely in price. Thanks in advance for any insights!

 

[Bobalooski]

Bought and used one with great success four years ago pre- and post-op after I tore four rotator-cuff tendons, and later after my partial knee miniscectomy. They’re also good to have handy for exercise recovery. I highly recommend!

 

[Lex P]

Bought and used one with great success four years ago pre- and post-op after I tore four rotator-cuff tendons, and later after my partial knee miniscectomy. They’re also good to have handy for exercise recovery. I highly recommend!

Thanks, what brand did you use?

 

[graham418]

When I had my shoulder surgery last spring, the PT recommended an ice machine / cold therapy device. They were going to rent it for the paltry sum of $150 / day. It wasn't going to be covered by insurance, so I didn't go for it but went for an ice pack harness

This is by O2 compression cold therapy. The blue thing is a removable gel pack that you put in the freezer. The rubber bulb is a bladder inflator that applies pressure to the affected area.
They make these for various body parts: shoulders, knees, elbows, etc. It was cheap and easy to use , and quite effective. Highly recommend this.

 

[Lex P]

Thanks for the help on this!

 

[Kneale Brownson]

We rented Game Ready ice therapy machines for both my tibia plateau repair and my wife's meniscus trimming. Costs weren't terrible, but we're in Breckenridge, where there probably is enough business that they don't have to pay for it with one customer's use. I think insurances covered some of the costs because the surgeon prescribed it.

 

[Bobalooski]

Thanks, what brand did you use?

Sorry, was away. I have a Polar Care unit. Very easy to use. Cost about $200 when I bought mine.

 

[Lex P]

Thanks to all, I ended up purchasing a unit instead of renting one. I realized that it would be useful on ski vacations to cool off my knee inflammation.

 

[EricG]

Sorry, was away. I have a Polar Care unit. Very easy to use. Cost about $200 when I bought mine.

Thankyou for posting a brand. I will be needing one soon and the doc provided me a place to rent for $75/day. Seems to make more sense to just buy for $2-300 instead of renting for 4-6 days.

 

[Bobalooski]

Thankyou for posting a brand. I will be needing one soon and the doc provided me a place to rent for $75/day. Seems to make more sense to just buy for $2-300 instead of renting for 4-6 days.

And you’ll have it as a therapeutic resource for life. I’ve used mine several times since my right shoulder surgery on my left shoulder after PT-guided exercises to strengthen and stabilize it and avoid damage that could lead to surgical treatment on it too. Once with my right shoulder was quite enough, thank you! It’s also been great on my knees. Simply good to have, IMHO.

 

[Tricia]

Thankyou for posting a brand. I will be needing one soon and the doc provided me a place to rent for $75/day. Seems to make more sense to just buy for $2-300 instead of renting for 4-6 days.

Its like buying a season pass, only in this case its a lifetime pass, instead of paying the window price

 

[EricG]

Its like buying a season pass, only in this case its a lifetime pass, instead of paying the window price

Yeah + co-pay’s. Lol.

 

[graham418]

That sounds awfully cheap.. I thought a Game Ready one was about $3500 - $4000cad

 

[Ron]

I know you already bought one but Steadman uses NICE machines for post-op care, they are awesome, Unlike the game ready (which are fantastic too. they use those in the PT sessions), you dont use ice, just 8 oz of water that goes into a reservoir. No need to refill or bother with ice. It also has a menu of settings including the temperature (on a scale of 1-5) and on/off cycles. This is especially great for post-op use where you can turn it on and just have it run the cycles of 30 on. 30 off (or any other combo you want). The only downside is the noise of start-up but you get used to it. Unfortunately, they are not covered by insurance but they are worth every penny. they Come with body specific pads that are anatomically designed to provide better coverage than an ice pack. This kind of therapy will help you heal faster with less pain.

CAUTION: Be extremely careful with ice machines without temp control and timed session! You can easily get frost bite! This is especially true if you are still under a block or if taking pain meds and fall asleep with them on. its one reason why insurance companies dont cover them.

 

[VickiK]

Coincidentally, I just read up on a performance recovery device called Normatec. Maybe it's similar to these devices.

 

[James]

Years ago I used Cryo Cuff. The simple one. Fill the cooler with ice, water hook up to the knee unit, an Air Cast, lift the cooler, fill, disconnect. Since you're disconnected the chances of frostbite are nearly zero. In fact, if you fall asleep it'll bet warm and be body temp.
The advantage if the simple system is you don't need electricity. In the US, i e is sold pretty much everywhere. A huge advantage. This enabled me to take a 3 hour train ride only a couple days after surgery. Then using it in the car. Very easy, nothing to break. Yeah you'll need another cooler for the ice, or if only in the car for say less than 2-3 hours your good.

So much better than using ice in a bag or random cold packs. Whatever system you choise.

 

[Monique]

@James the modern Cryo Cuff coolers allow you to plug in, so that there is compression as well as recycled water = the water goes back through the ice, so it stays cool longer. The old cuffs all plug right in. I now have a foot cuff, a knee cuff - and even a shoulder cuff, because I lent the device to my friend for his surgeries. After he got both shoulders replaced, fingers crossed he won't need it anymore!

It's not as fancy as the other systems, but excellent bang for the buck. I found it useful while working-from-recliner.

 

[lisamamot]

That sounds awfully cheap.. I thought a Game Ready one was about $3500 - $4000cad

They are; renting a GameReady is somewhere around $75/day. The $200-$300 purchase price is for a straight ice machine - something like a Cryo Cuff or Polar Care. The Cryo Cuff/Polar Care is a purchase and not available for rental with our insurance plan.

Thankyou for posting a brand. I will be needing one soon and the doc provided me a place to rent for $75/day. Seems to make more sense to just buy for $2-300 instead of renting for 4-6 days.

At that rental rate they are likely offering a GameReady machine which does combined ice and compression. My daughter has torn both of her ACLs and has used the GameReady both times. Prescribed by the doc but our insurance will not cover it so we paid for the rental out of pocket the first time when she was in high school - same with the CPM (continuous passive motion) machine. UGH. With the 2nd ACL she was injured while playing for her college soccer team so the college's secondary insurance covers everything ours does not. Her college owns a GameReady so we only needed to rent for the immediate post surgery time. Her PT in at Mass General also uses the GameReady on her post PT session.

Results with the GameReady are far better than with a straight ice machine but it all depends on your injury and how quickly you want to be back in action.

 

[James]

Yeah gravity will give compression too. I'm sure pressure with electric might be better, but it's not essential and has drawbacks.
The upshot is that without recirculation, the system will essentially self limit, and after say 30 minutes it's not cold. So you can't really apply excessive cold. If you're prone to falling asleep, I would think it's a good thing.

Two acl's and a meniscus operation. Honestly, the first 5 days recovery after the arthroscopic meniscus was worse. No one prepared me for that. But thankfully that was long ago. Ortho's told you squat back then. I learned everything that was going to happen from the pt people.

Paying $75/day is kind of insane. Cold is cold. I'm sure an expensive recirc/cooler might be more consistently colder with no work. The ice/water method if using the cheap gravity system, you just empty and refill after 10 min. Or less. There's your compression release.

I get the Game Ready programmed compression release. Probably good, but essential? You might be better off with that money applied to electro stimulation/manual therapy 3x a week. Who knows.

 

[graham418]

The O2 cold compression wrap was $75cad on amazon.ca. It worked great. As much cold as I could stand