FlexiKold Gel Ice Pack, Large, 10.5 x 14.5 Inch

These appear to be the best deal out there for reusable ice packs. I purchased a less-expensive version with great marketing on Amazon, but the seams leaked within several months. (The other ones seren't the Coldest, either, LOL), As an older American, I need to ice my back and leg or knee daily. The large FlexiKold gel ice packs do it perfectly. I keep them folded in half in my freezer and use two or three of them while sitting in a chair. My pants and shirts provide enough insulation from the cold that I get a therapeutic effect from the gel pack without it being too cold. You definitely will need to have some fabric between the pack and your skin. My wife is a little more temperature sensitive and uses a towel between herself and the pack. Often my back hurts enough that I need to take the gel pack with me in the car when I need to drive for a half hour or more. This works great, knocking some of the pain off when I arrive on shorter trips and allowing me to sit for longer drives on the freeway without increasing pain. As mentioned before, cheaper packs that looked good started to ooze the gel and get much flatter in a matter of months. Not knowing exactly what was in these packs, that was worrisome to me. With the durability of these FlexiKold packs, I don't have to worry about that. They hold up very well. I do recommend that you smooth out the pack with your hands after it defrosts, evenly redistributing the gel within the pack. These packs are very malleable and mold to your body parts fairly well. There are two slightly different versions of the packs. One comes with semi-slick vinyl on both sides (heavy duty) and the other has a slightly softer light-blue fabric on top. Both work fine for me, but my wife prefers the one with the fabric. I don't really remember which is which, as I purchased several of these over a few years, but I think the difference might be whether you purchase the packs with the velcro straps or not. In addition to using these for my back and leg, I also used these very extensively after should surgery a few years ago. I tucked them behind my shoulder blade and folded them over while sitting down. They worked more effectively than the crummy ice-water machine rental I got from the doctor's office. (unlike the AWESOME Thermo-Cool I've used before). I purchased this item with my own money, wasn't compensated for this review and have no ties to the company.