Top 5 Best Ice Packs | 2018 Reviews
There are more to ice packs than just picking one up in the supermarket or ordering the first one you see online. Getting just any ice pack doesn't guarantee you relief. Whenever you get an injury, it is often recommended to apply a cold compress to prevent your muscles or your soft tissues from getting inflamed. We understand that cooling is good but there could be the longer term problems when using any old icepack to deliver cooling without care or consideration on all injuries.
Ice packs provide two main benefits in helping you after an injury. Firstly, it can numb your muscles and the surrounding area. Injuries can be really painful and an ice pack can help you relieve the pain. Secondly, the cooling provided by the ice packs serves to constrict the blood vessels around the injury and slows down the blood flow to the surrounding area. Reducing the blood flow to an injured area can prevent swelling or helps reduce the swelling around the affected area.
Therefore, ice packs are must have in your first aid arsenal. For obvious reasons, ice packs need to be kept in the freezer, which prevent them from being an item you can keep in your first aid kit to take with you. However, some ice packs can double as heat packs which can be used to warm, and these can be kept in first aid kits and put in the microwave shortly before use.
Ideally, the best ice packs are compact, portable and can be used anywhere. Additionally, it must allow you freedom of movement despite your injury. Finally, it shouldn't cost you an arm or a leg (pun intended), but should be of good quality. Cheap, low quality ice packs can easily break and will cause a lot of mess and may even leak toxic material.
Believe it or not, there are so ice packs on the market, it was really time consuming to sift through them all. But that's why we're here, and we've done the hard work for you. We have chosen the best ice packs on the market.
Quick Comparison Table
|
Pain Relief Ice Pack with Strap for Hot & Cold Therapy |
FlexiKold Gel Cold Pack Standard Size |
Round Reusable Gel Ice Packs With Cloth Backing |
Chattanooga ColPac Cold Therapy (Standard) |
Fit & Fresh Cool Coolers Slim Lunch Ice Packs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
$$$ |
$$$ |
$$$ |
$$$ |
$$$ |
|
14 x 2 x 6 inches |
14.5 x 10.5 x 1 inches |
4 x 4 x 0.2 inches |
14 x 11 x 1.8 inches |
4.75 x 4.75 x 0.25 inches |
|
1.2 pounds |
1 pound |
8.8 ounces |
4.1 pounds |
1 pound |
|
Hot & Cold |
Hot & Cold |
Hot & Cold |
Cold only |
Cold only |
 |
|
|
|
|
Pain Relief Ice Pack with Strap for Hot & Cold Therapy
This is considered to be the ultimate ice pack, especially for a highly active lifestyle. From muscle cramps to sprain or just a weary set of muscles, you will easily gain relief from this best ice pack. This is the best professional gel ice packs in our list. It is made of plastic filled with a non-toxic gel that is both heat resistant and cold resistant. Because of this, it doesn't just work as both an ice pack and a hot pack too.
You can use this as an ice pack for injuries or a hot pack for stiff muscles. For cooling, you simply put this ice pack with velcro straps in the freezer. If you want a hot pack, you can simply pop it in the microwave and it's ready to go. What's great about it is that it is sturdy and has an anti-leak feature since it is double sealed.
The Pain Relief ice pack with velcro straps make it easy for you to keep the ice pack on any part of your body as you continue with your activities. Its versatility comes from its three segmented individually sealed packs. The velcro straps secure it around any part of your body and the gel can provide cooling or heating relief for up to four hours.
One additional quality of this reusable ice pack is that it is easy to clean, all you need to do is wipe it clean and put it in the freezer. It is the most widely used ice pack by athletes, sports trainers, and doctors. For all those great reasons mentioned above, it is our top pick for the top 5 best ice packs.
|
Details of the Pain Relief Ice Pack with Strap for Hot & Cold Therapy |
|
|---|---|
|
Dimensions |
14 x 2 x 6 inches |
|
Weight |
1.2 pounds |
|
Pack Material |
BPA-free plastic |
|
Gel Material |
Bentonite Gel |
|
Hot Therapy |
Yes |
|
Cold Therapy |
Yes |
FlexiKold Gel Cold Pack Standard Size
This ice pack is probably the biggest ice pack on our list. It is meant to cover larger areas of the body. It works best as an ice pack around your back, on your butt cheeks, both your legs, your feet or any other parts of your body that need a decent amount of cooling. What we love about this is that it has a thin even layer of gel inside the pack giving your skin an instant constant relieving cold feel that will last for eight hours thus making it the longest lasting of all our reviewed ice packs. This ice pack contains a proprietary gel interior that remains pliable even when frozen.
This ice pack is found commonly in hospitals and used as a medical ice pack. It works well as when cooling therapy is required after surgeries. It can also be used as a cold compress for large areas of your body to treat back pains and aching muscles. Due to its large surface area, you don't need to keep on transferring your ice pack from one place to another. Due to its size, it is not meant to be portable and so it doesn't come with velcro straps. However, if you require treatment over such a large area of your body, you probably won't be moving around anyway!
Due to its size and cooling power, one consideration is that they can be too cold. It is recommended to wrap it in a towel initially before first application and then after an hour, you can put it straight on your body. This icepack has additional qualities. Firstly, it is easy to clean. Secondly, it has an awesome fabric outer cover to make it feel smooth and comfortable when placed directly on your skin. Thirdly, you also use it as a hot pack by putting it in the microwave.
Leak prevention is achieved by a double seal. A plastic seal secures the gel and a fabric seal is placed around the sealed plastic compartment. For these reason, this ice pack is our second favorite pick for top five best ice packs.
|
Details of the FlexiKold Gel Cold Pack Standard Size |
|
|---|---|
|
Dimensions |
14.5 x 10.5 x 1 inches |
|
Weight |
1 pound |
|
Pack Material |
Soft Fabric |
|
Gel Material |
Proprietary Gel |
|
Hot Therapy |
Yes |
|
Cold Therapy |
Yes (freeze for at least 2-3 hours) |
|
Sizes |
Half-Size, Standard Size, Oversize, Neck Contour |
Round Reusable Gel Ice Packs With Cloth Backing
This is the best blue ice gel pack. We really love the small size which makes it absolutely perfect for kids. It has a thick seal to prevent it from leaking and the plastic cover prevents your kids from biting through the blue ice gel pack. This is the most compact first aid treatment for small bruises burns, cuts and sprains or aches.
What we love about this is that it is also a hot pack. It can be put in the microwave even if it's taken straight out of the freezer. Since it comes in a pack of five's, you can just pop 3 in the freezer for cooling therapy and two in the first aid kit to microwave for warming therapy so you're ready for all occasions. This ice pack can also be used to treat migraines as they can be placed on specific areas that are painful such as: around your eyes, on both temples, on your forehead or just by the nape of your neck.
Due to their size, these ice packs may not work well for treatment that require long lasting relief. However, these little blue ice packs are handy and versatile and can even be put together inside a larger bag to serve as a bigger ice pack treatment on larger areas. This is the best ice pack one our list that also doubles as a skincare or a beauty treatment. A note of caution, do NOT microwave for longer than 10 seconds. After microwaving, move the gel around to spread the heat. Overheating will cause these blue gel ice packs to burst.
And all the above reasons, this ice pack comes in third in our list of the top 5 best ice packs.
|
Details of the Round Reusable Gel Ice Packs With Cloth Backing |
|
|---|---|
|
Dimensions |
4 x 4 x 0.2 inches |
|
Weight |
8.8 ounces |
|
Pack Material |
thick plastic with non-woven cloth backing |
|
Gel Material |
Non-toxic blue gel (97% Canadian spring water) |
|
Hot Therapy |
Yes (microwave for 10 seconds) |
|
Cold Therapy |
Yes (freeze for 2 hours) |
|
Sizes |
Free-size |
Chattanooga ColPac Cold Therapy (Standard)
This is the most compact ice pack in our list. Not only is it compact in design, it also comes with ice pack contours that is preformed for your neck, your back, around your eyes, and more.
This is our favorite, home treatment ice pack. The blue vinyl cover prevents the frozen gel inside from stinging your skin. It feels gentle directly on your skin and it works great as treatment to bring down a fever. It also works well for bruises, sprains, strains and to reduce swelling in general. Due to its size, this ice pack can only maintain cooling for about 30 minutes. You'd have to freeze the Colpac for at least two hours to keep it frozen to achieve maximum cooling power. When it's frozen, the gel in this ice pack is lumpy but still pliable. It holds quite well in uneven parts of your body like the joints.
The reasons we love the Colpac best ice packs is the preformed contours for different parts of your body. They allow the cooling pack to be positioned in just the right place for maximum effectiveness. Your body aches will thank you.
This ice pack is not the best cold pack for kids. Children have the tendency to bite and this soft chewy item is very tempting to teething toddlers. The seal is also not very study and the gel that comes out can create quite a mess. The instructions say that you have to take it out of the freezer for a day if it's been freezing for a week. This is very inconvenient as who has most people will not be able to keep tabs on their ice packs. Colpac ice packs are also not microwavable. They cannot be heated for hot therapy. These last two negative factors drop the Chattanooga ColPac down to fourth spot on our list of Top 5 best ice packs.
|
Details of the Chattanooga ColPac Cold Therapy (Standard) |
|
|---|---|
|
Dimensions |
14 x 11 x 1.8 inches |
|
Weight |
4.1 pounds |
|
Pack Material |
Blue Vinyl |
|
Gel Material |
Silica Gel |
|
Hot Therapy |
No |
|
Cold Therapy |
Yes |
|
Sizes |
eye pack, quarter size, half size, standard, neck contour, Oversize |
Fit & Fresh Cool Coolers Slim Lunch Ice Packs
Cute, funky and fun! That's a very attractive reason as to why this one of our favorite picks. This is the best ice packs for lunch boxes. We consider these the best ice packs for lunch box because they are long lasting and can keep your kids' lunches cold and fresh.
What we love about them is that they are very slim and versatile; they can be bent to fit in your kid's lunch boxes perfectly.
What we love about this item is that they are made of sturdy plastic and they don't puncture easily. They are also thin and lightweight so they won't make your kids' lunch boxes too heavy. For entertainment value, you have a choice of bright colors.
What's this got to do with the other ice packs you ask? Well, they're something you'll always have in your freezer because your kids will bring lunches every weekday. Because of their study design, and their proximity to food, they are leak proof and non toxic. So in cases of injury and emergency, they are there in the freezer, wrap a towel around them, and ice away.
For these reason, this reusable ice pack for lunch boxes takes the fifth place in our list of Top 5 best ice packs.
|
Details of the Fit & Fresh Cool Coolers Slim Lunch Ice Packs |
|
|---|---|
|
Dimensions |
4.75 x 4.75 x 0.25 inches |
|
Weight |
1 pound |
|
Pack Material |
BPA-free plastic |
|
Gel Material |
Magic Gel |
|
Hot Therapy |
No |
|
Cold Therapy |
Yes (freeze for 2 hours) |
|
Sizes |
Plain Square, Multicolored Square, Multi-colored Penguins |
What are the best ice packs for coolers, for injuries, for beauty treatments, or for home first aid kits? Now you know. Ice packs serve different purposes and it depends mostly on where we need to use them that we choose to buy the best ice packs. We've given you our opinion and no matter which one you get, you'll definitely be happy with that choice. But still, take caution, once any of these erupt of burst open, dispose of them. It can get messy and the mess really stains.
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