übertherm is a line of cold therapy packs that retain their cold longer than the competition in a comfortable pack that stays where you need the therapy. I was provided with their line up free for the purpose of review, no other forms of compensation were provided and all opinions on the site are my own.

I’m sure most of us have had to ice an injury from time to time. And the way ice packs often work isn’t always the most convenient. They start off super cold, so we wrap it in another cloth. Then you can’t feel the cold anymore. They slide off or you have to hold them in place. Potentially you end up damp because of condensation (or just plain melting/leaking, especially with a homemade bag of ice. It’s not always ideal. So that’s where übertherm can come into play. They’re designed to be a better icing solution.

Put the ice pack into your freezer until you need it. Then when you’re experiencing some kind of pain (ouch!) place the ice pack into the wrap. There are knee, shoulder, foot/ankle, and elbow wrap styles. The inside of the wrap is very soft and is a barrier between your skin and the ice pack. The ice pack slides into a velcro closure pocket that keeps it in place.

Once your ice pack is inside, you wrap it around your injured spot and tighten the velcro straps in place. This serves a couple of purposes. One, it keeps your wrap in place so it’s not going to slide off. Two, it provides some gentle compression. The product does recommend that you don’t place a layer of clothes between your skin and the wrap.

Earlier this year I started experiencing some knee pain. I don’t know exactly why. I wish I could say it was overtraining but I also have been unable to train as far and as often as I wish and like I used to. Maybe that’s why I was feeling pain, my body was feeling undertrained! Whatever the reason, my knee was hurting. So I was excited to give the knee wrap a try.

I followed the instructions, put the pack in the freezer, then put the wrap together and wrapped my knee up. Then I tried to spend 20 minutes kicking it on the couch and hoping my kid didn’t NEED me to do something for her immediately.

I liked how it stayed in place and it did a nice job of putting cold directly onto my knee. I did find the wrap a little heavy, but the material inside was super soft and comfy. And after a few rounds with this over several days, my knee wasn’t hurting as much. (This could also be due to another change, which I will post soon.)

I do feel the need to address the issue that has been circulating lately that icing is no longer needed. Personally, icing an injury makes me feel better. That said, I wouldn’t go to the extreme that I did in marathon training a decade ago, where I did a miserable ice bath after every long run. I did the Boston Marathon a few years ago without a single ice bath during my training.

A shorter amount of icing can work to help reduce pain. Some inflammation is useful for the healing process, it’s a natural response by the body. But chronic inflammation is also not a good thing and if I had knee pain after every single run or I was someone who rolled my ankle a lot, I would definitely incorporate a routine of exercises to strengthen supporting muscles, stretching, and some cold therapy to reduce pain over popping pain killers non-stop. Plus cryotherapy studios are popping up all over, so evidently, people want us to use cold therapy as long as it’s much more expensive! So I still feel cold therapy has a place.

The Ubertherm wraps are $59.95 each, so they’re not cheap. They’re made in the US and they are well-made. The elbow one could be used on a kid’s leg boo boo. (My kid likes an ice pack for a few minutes when she gets a bump or a bruise), so they could be repurposed to use in different spots to help you get your full money’s worth. And if you are someone who chronically gets pain in the same spot, then having something that is comfortable and reusable will probably help in the long term more so than wasting bags of peas. übertherm is definitely comfortable and reusable, and easy to use.