gameready.com
A little over a week since my second arthroscopic hip surgery — this time on my right side — and I am feeling remarkably well. Aside from some general soreness around the tiny incisions near my hip joint, there’s very little pain. And I have my new best friend to thank for that: the Game Ready ice machine.
I apologize if this post sounds a little like a free ad for this product (I don’t have any ads on my site — honest!), but this portable ice box, with a velcro wrap that covers my injured hip, really does work! In fact, it’s used regularly to treat the sports injuries of professional and collegiate athletes. Even the Navy SEALs. (Game Ready is a product of CoolSystems Inc. of Concord, Calif.)
My rented Game Ready is filled with ice once in the morning, which usually lasts for four to six hours. (Sure beats messing around with bags of ice.) The secret is in the size of the ice that’s inserted into the machine’s cavity — the bigger the chunks, the better. So we’ve filled Tupperware containers with water and let them freeze. (Soup containers from the Chinese takeout work just as well.) The temperature of the Game Ready gets down to 33 degrees Farenheit, which is perfect for numbing the affected area, thereby reducing any pain or swelling, and promoting healing.
There are many different settings for this machine. I prefer the first, which is 30 minutes on, 30 minutes off. No need for pain killers with this regimen. (Long after surgery, though, the Game Ready could come in handy after a long run or workout.)
The machine costs around $300 to $400 to rent for three weeks. But if you’d like to own one, be prepared to fork over at least $2,500 (attachments not included).
Santa, are you listening?
Just got home from my 2 week post-op appointment. It went better than I thought. I really thought that he would tell me that I could no longer run and I didn’t know how I would handle that news. He did say nothing over 3 miles, EVER. As long as I can run, I can tolerate that.
I do have some arthritis in my hip. I was able to see that there are spots where there is no cartlidge. I can now begin to wean off of the crutches with a goal to be completely off of them in 2 weeks.
I hope your recovery is going well!!!
Hi Angela, That’s great news about being able to run again! (And about the crutches.) I had my 10-day post-op yesterday, and I’ll be posting soon about that experience. I have a feeling that both of us will be running again by the summer — something to help get us through the dog days of winter. Vivian