Head-Neck Hot & Cold Reusable Compress Pad 1 ea

Excellent for migraine headaches, stiff neck, and sore shoulders. It's a plastic sleeve about the size and shape of my arm, filled with squishy gel that can be heated in a microwave oven or in hot water, or you can freeze it. It slips inside a washable outer case (sort of like a pillowslip) with Velcro on the ends, so you can wrap and fasten it snugly around your head, neck, jaw, leg, or whatever, or drape it across your shoulders. Ahhh, what a relief it is! I bought one of these at least five years ago and have used it many, many times, and it has held up admirably. It's the first thing I grab when I'm getting a migraine. Very highly recommended.I use it hot, not cold. When it first comes out of the microwave, it's almost too hot to touch. It helps to wrap it in a small towel to protect your skin, and this will also keep the gel pack hot (or cold) longer.If you get nausea with a migraine, try drinking peppermint tea. It works way better than any other remedies I have tried. After the peppermint settles your stomach, take two ibuprofen tablets (Advil) with black tea (okay to add sugar and milk). Massage your face, especially the hinge of your jaw, and the soles of your feet, preferably with a gentle electric massager. Weirdly, it's also helpful to munch on frozen peas.PS: When my horse bowed a tendon on her leg (similar to a sprained ankle), this gel pack really helped her recover! Normally you would soak the leg in a bucket of very hot water for at least an hour. Since it was about 10 degrees outside, with a cold wind also, that was not feasible. I heated the gel pack in the microwave, wrapped a small towel around the horse's leg, strapped the hot gel pack on, wrapped that with a large bath towel, and tied it all on with twine. It was quite effective. The gel stayed pretty hot for 30-45 minutes, despite the cold weather.

I use this quite often as I suffer from migraines. I keep the cool pack in the freezer ready to go and the cover off, stored separately so as not to get that awful freezer odor. It stays cold for a good long time, is well made and easy to use. I do find I tend to use it with the blue side against my skin and not the white fabric as it gives more protection from the cold. It's a personal preference and it makes it a little more difficult to close with the velcro but not too bad. Not only is it good for wrapping around the head, it works well around the lower neck and shoulder area where I also get tension and pain with the migraines. This is also good to use prior to or after occipital nerve block shots or botox shots for migraines. I've used it to numb the area before hand or after the shots to help reduce swelling and bruising.

First of all, I have used this product for at least ten years and have always been so happy to be able to order it via Amazon. It's very convenient, because I don't have to sit still when I am in pain. Most ice/gel packs don't have the velcro that comes with this product, so that I can wrap it in a just-right fit around my forehead and walk around, work at a computer, even work in the garden, without my ice pack falling off. I have tried other products. Other products with similar velcro material aren't as comfortable as this one. Many other products are too thin and the coolness I seek cannot be achieved because the size is too small. This product is larger, but not too large either. I often wear it at work with no complaints!Unfortunately, the replacement pack I ordered this month was manufactured using a different material for the inside. Usually, the inside fabric is a thin nylon material that makes it possible to feel the coolness or warmth of the gel pack very quickly through the fabric. However, this month my latest replacement was made with a different material. It's thicker than the material they used previously. It almost feels like mesh. It's so thick that it's too awkward for me to wrap it around my head. The material itches, too. I'm not sure how to contact the manufacturer. I'm hoping it's an experiment and they'll change back to the other material. I still recommend this wrap because it allows anyone who uses it to stay active.

I love these packs. I currently have two of them, but have had probably 4 or 5 in the last 7 years. I use these daily to keep headaches and migraines away. They work so well. They fit nicely around the head and stay put and cold for about 2 hours. Then back in the freezer it goes and I switch it out for the other one. The Velcro does lose it's stick after a while, BUT I still gave it five stars because I honestly use these all day long every single day. And the Velcro lasts more than a year with that amount of usage. And even when it stops sticking as much, I just put a new strip of Velcro on and it's like brand new again. I've only had one ice pack pop and that was because I has something sharp sticking to it. Otherwise, they last for years and years. I had tried a cheaper version and it was a big mistake. These are great because the outside is like a cloth material, so it's comfortable, yet stays cool. I've never used them for heat, so I can't speak to that.