Ossur Cold Rush Therapy Machine System with Universal Pad - Ergonomic Ice Machine, Adjustable Cold Therapy Machine, Quiet and Lightweight Cooling Pad, Strong Cryotherapy Freeze Kit Pump

I had my second knee replaced in late July. This was a much tougher recovery than the first. There was more swelling and less pain medicine...available. We have ice packs galore: the large hard ones that the hospital supplied, and multiple ColPac pads. Those were fine during the day, but once my wonderful husband came to bed, there was no way for me to get to the freezer on the ground floor. Waking *him* up to get me a fresh pad took a long time, at which point, I was wide awake, and feeling guilty. Sleeping even 5 hours wasn't possible.Then at the end of my second PT session, the therapist draped a huge cooling blanket over and around my my poor aching leg for about 10-15 minutes. The relief was so great I almost fell asleep. I came home and spent hours on my laptop trying to find that same unit. I did: $3,500, and it would swallow a hunk of my bedroom. The next day, I found the Cold Rush Cold Therapy System. I read review after review, on Amazon and a couple of other sites. I also found and read the Instruction manual on the Ossur site. I ordered the unit with the Universal Pad and also a separate knee pad.The 9th night after my discharge, the Cold Rush Unit was set up to cool my knee at night. 5 solid hours of sleep, and then a few more. Husband did the loading, and he got it down to a science. Five frozen 12 oz bottles of water, a gallon ziploc full of ice cubes, and water to the fill line. After a couple of nights, I was sleeping 6-8 hours, rousing only briefly. We never had any leaks.I never used the knee pad. The Universal Pad is much more adaptable. The separate "lobes" let me position the pad in places other than on the top of my kneecap. I had a LOT of swollen painful leg to chill. You're regrowing nerve fibers after these surgeries. My skin was super sensitive, and the straps the came with the Pads were far too rough. They were also not really necessary. I don't move a lot, and a couple of strips of soft stretchy gauze were enough to keep the lobes of this pad where I wanted them.The Instructions are clear that you are never supposed to use the Cold Rush while you sleep unless you check your skin every 1-2 hours, especially if you have one of the list of conditions in the Instructions for Use document, and I do. But I also never ran it at 4 or MAX. I started at 2-3, and turned it down to 2-1 when I roused during the night. The initial settings and the fresh ice were enough to numb my knee. By then end of the night my knee was just chilled. That was enough effect, and I had no skin or other damage. I stopped using the Cold Rush unit at night when the pain and swelling decreased, and the cold-induced stiffness was getting in the way of my recovery.I still have at least three joint surgeries to go, so I'm going to store my Cold Rush carefully. I just wish someone had mentioned this miracle before I went through 3 joint replacement surgeries in less than 24 months!!

The rate feature from Amazon did not list Icing or Cold Therapy which is what we purchased this device to do. My wife had full knee replacement surgery and keeping ice on the knee was paramount - especially in the early recovery period - but it is also required throughout the physical therapy process too. We found from the first day at home that keeping up with freezing the bags provided by the doctor were a losing battle. The doctor did not offer an icing machine in his protocol but a little inquiry online and in discussing it with other friends who had the procedure done it was unanimous that it was a "life saver". From day one this machine offered the greatest of relief. My wife could sit with the provided universal pad on her knee without discomfort (little to no weight to the pad but she used a thin material between the pad and skin) and the flow and control of the temperature was easily managed and was at her fingertips. It made virtually no noise. After an initial sound of the tubes being pressurized you could not hear the machine run. It was used in the living room next to her where the TV was watched and you never knew it was there. I used frozen water bottles and some cooling blocks typically used in coolers. I could fit 5 small cooling blocks in the water tank. One note ... be sure to remove the labels on anything you use in the tank. I used Goo Gone to ensure all of the label was removed as it appeared to me that paper or plastic labels could disintegrate and block the water ways. The water stayed very cold for hours this way and I think it was worth it as ice would have melted fairly quickly. But this is a matter of choice as the device is made to handle ice. I looked to rent an icing machine first but quickly found that if you do not have a medical durable goods store or rental facility close by you would not easily find one. Then when I did locate a rental possibility the cost saving was really not there. Also, I questioned the hygiene and thought reuse of the machine and pad would be off-putting. This was a great price and the device could be used for many years. It also has many pad designs available for some highly specific applications if one needed it.

If you're offered an extended warranty at the time of purchase, take it. You will end up using it.My warranty expired, so I decided to look and understand where the internal leak happened in my device. The photograph shows where glue was used to secure the tubing to the fitting. And then a zip tie was added. The glue they used made the tubing degrade and become hardened and brittle. After only using it about a half a dozen times, and with normal moving around of the device, along with the tempering of the cold water allowed the tube to expand and contract, I ended up with an unrepairable leak.When I decided to express my disappointment to the vendor, and in hopes they might send this image or others that I took to the manufacturing facility to see what they can do better moving forward with future builds of the device, I received the message that said... Sorry, the warranty is maybe 6 months.Keep in mind that the electrical circuit for power is not isolated from the rest of the internal parts. I was able to remove power before receiving any kind of a shock while using the device.

After buying this machine, I wanted to wait to review it to make sure that it lasted. I replaced my knee and used this ice machine to help reduce pain and swelling. I use the tricks that I read about using frozen water bottles to make the ice last longer. It works great and last a long time that way. The only reason that I didn't give it all 5 stars is because I felt that the universal pad, which seems bigger than the knee pad is still not long enough. The more expensive system comes with a wrap around pad that is much larger. This would be a great addition that I would be willing to pay for to get the better cooling of the repaired area. I would still buy it again but would love to be able to get a larger pad.