Cryo Cuff

I was wondering if anyone in the US recently purchased a cryo cuff and if so, which site did you find the best price?

Also, have most people used the gravity fed devoce or the motorized?

Thanks for your help
Lisa

Good question, thanks for asking! I browsed some and bookmarked pages to my desktop but I haven't had a chance to dig down into them to find the best deal so I'll be interested too!

Insurance is paying for a motorized Polar Ice for about a month. Before I knew that I bought a gravity fed one that I plan to use after the other is returned.

I bought the gravity fed CryoCuff at a medical supply place that was having a sale and free shipping at the time. It was a better price than on ebay and also didn't require sales tax.

Another item I picked up was a box of the instant ice cold ice packs like they use for sports players. There was a sale on them and a box came with about 24. Figured I would throw them in the car to use for emergencies.

Apologies for my ignorance here, but do you have to put ice into the Cryo Cuff, or does it make the ice?

There are two kinds 1. you put ice water into the pad only and the other you put ice and water in a bucket and the hose from there fills the pad. I just bought one off Ebay for $40 with free shipping. used but like new.

So, can you just use the cuff by itself? Is it better to have the bucket? Is it run by batteries (ignorant again)?

Sizes - presently my leg measures 18 inches (6 inches above the knee). Small size is for 10-20", medium size is for 18-24". Should I go for the medium size to cater for swelling after the op?

I've found they are being sold, new, on ebay, for £99.

Kathy
xx

Thanks for the reminder here. Back in 2001 I had my left knee scoped and they sent me home with a motorized polar ice bucket and cuff. I didn't know I was going to get that, so didn't prepare in advance. My husband had to keep adding ice cubes to it and they would melt pretty quickly. So after seeing this post I went to the basement and found the unit and cleaned the dust off of it and filled it with just water to see if it worked, plugged it in and it works. So I started making bigger blocks of ice that will fit in there and then of course last longer. Now the question, I know when you use a regular ice pack, they say only on for 20 minutes. But with the ice water cuff, can you leave that on all the time? If I am remember right, I left it on all the time when I had the knee scoped.

Good question, Debbie

Kathy
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I ordered this one:
http://www.airbracestore.com/product/cryocuff-ic-w-knee-cuff-medium/medium
I will be having my left knee replaced in the next year, my husband has bad knees and replacement is in his future, and my daughter-in-law has had several knee surgeries. She needs knee replacement, but was told that she was too young. My OS said that is nonsense, and when she is ready, to come see him. She just wants to wait until her daughter takes the bus to school, so a 2 year wait.......to make a long story short, I thought that our family would put this nifty icer to good use!

Unfortunately, Nyland, it will be put to good use - if you see what I mean

Kathy
xx

There are 2 different Cyo Cuffs, one with a compression element, the other you use gravity. Inside the bucket, there is a line that says fill H2O to here, the rest is ice cubes. The electric compression model circulates the cold water and adds compression. The gravity model, you have to raise and lower the bucket above the height of your knee. I have seen very good results with the few people that bought the compression Cryo Cuff. The people who bought the gravity one were not as compliant and felt a wrap around reusable ice packs did just as good.
What ever ice system you use, add some compression. This can be done with an ACE wrap. So the term, ICE. Ice Compression, and Elevation. What makes me laugh, is when an OS tells a patient to use a bag of frozen pees. You just had a $50 thousand dollar surgery and you are going to put frozen pees on top of your knee. 50% of the whole procedure is Rehab. The OS is done in 1hr. Rehab takes months.
Best of luck,
David

Thanks David, that's extremely helpful

Kathy
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Hi David,
I actually got the compression one after lots of research. I think that my link only showed the gravity cuff. The price difference was about $75.00. Thanks for pointing that out.

I bought a polar ice on ebay before my surgery. The hospital gave me the polar ice machine when I left the hospital. I had surgery at an USAF medical center. The nurse told me it was mine and they did not reuse them. My OS told me to use the ace bandage like David mention. I slept with the polar ice machine at night, and used it almost 24 hrs a day in the beginning, lol. I bought a small freezer to store bags of ice. I woulod recommend to any TKR patient to get an ice machine it will be a very good investment.

Margie

I bought this one prior to surgery.
http://www.amazon.com/Aircast-Cryo-...UTF8&qid=1341626682&sr=8-2&keywords=cryo cuff
It was $125.00 with no tax or shipping. It works by gravity. You can keep cuff connected or disconnect. This device has been a life saver. I looked at them on ebay but would think twice. My knee was a little weepy and when I used cuff I would try to use paper towel but still would get some drainage on it.
My surgery was on June 5. I still use the cuff daily. I take it to work with me. I fill large cups with water and freeze. Larger ice lasts longer.
I read reviews about motorized and people said it was noisy. My advice, buy one. Love mine.

Hi Vicki,
Thanks for sharing that you take yours to work with you. When did you return to work? How is it going? How do you feel? I was thinking about bringing it to work. If I freeze large cups, I bet I can make it work. Thanks for the tip.

I own my own business so I had no choice to return. I went back at week two, three times a week about 5 hours each. It was not easy and I don't recommend. I could break and put ice on knee qnd leg, but didn't have a place to lay down so put my leg on another chair. Leg would swell quite a bit. Ice lasts most of day. The more often you circulate the water the faster ice dissolves.

Thanks for that, Vicki. Wishing you the best!