icing machines are they a device that the hospital provides?

[lgbran]

Hi there
I see a number of  hippies here refering to icing machines. Can you purchase one of these or is it provided by the hospital.
Cheers
Len

[Jason0411]

Not supplied in the uk and I have never seen one. My icing machine was a bag of frozen peas.

[podgornymd]

I am in the US and they are supplied by a private company that my insurance did cover for a few weeks but you can buy them on line. they were invaluable to me and i wished i had bought it.

[Jason0411]

Bag of peas is cheaper  ;)

[Staggerwing]

I am scheduled for a LBHR by Dr. Brooks, Cleveland Clinic, on Nov. 8th.  A couple weeks ago I bought a slightly used machine on ebay.  $49 plus shipping and it came with the hip pad.  I tried it out the other night to make sure it was going to work and I was impressed. 
Yes, there are many other cheaper ways to go but you can set this up, strap the pad on and relax. 

[Marco Polo]

Dr. Gross provides one, but I am not aware of any other physicians that do.  I had an ice machine from my arthroscopic knee surgery and it worked great.  It is made by Breg and the brand is Polar Care.  They make icing easy. As suggested, I would look for a used one on eBay.

[oldsoccerplayer]

Dr. Gross' clinic will sell you one. I forget how much they charge but it seemed like a lot so I also got one for a lot less on eBay. Apparently only one insurance company will cover the cost.
It's a convenient way of having ice temperature applied all the time. If you go with frozen peas I suggest you get several bags so you can switch them out when they start to thaw.

[lgbran]

Frozen paws or a wet t towel in bag a cheaper option. If I Can pick  one up,cheaper I will. Also depends whether surgeon recommends icing though it appears to be a standard practice
Cheers
len

[oldsoccerplayer]

With me, the procedure was to hand the machine over to the medical staff when I checked in at the hospital the morning of the surgery. I woke up in the recovery room with it already hooked up and running, which was nice. It might be worth asking if your hospital has a way of icing the operated area immediately after the surgery.

[lgbran]

Good idea . Will add to my list of questions when I see the surgeon Mon 21. Failing that will see if it's option to hire the device post op
Thanks again Len

[luz2014]

I had LHRS with Dr Gross and he does sell one although I purchased mine from Breg.  There are "cheaper" ways to ice but I would do it all over again.   I credit it for my amazingly fast and relatively low pain recovery.  From the moment i came out of surgery I have been strapped to that hip pad (comes with the machine) one hour on one off every waking moment. Not overnight.  My swelling was very minor.  I was able to switch from pain killers to killers (nausea city) to Tylenol on day 3.  I was curious about how long to use it (as in weeks-see under "icing" in new topic).Personally, I felt the healing power of the ice each time I used it.  Just my 2 Hippy cents.