Stubbed your toe? Sprained your ankle? Smacked your face with the cupboard? Slipped on a banana peel? You’re a clumsy one, aren’t you?
Small injuries suck. Yeah, larger injuries suck more, but smaller injuries aren’t fun because they aren’t taken as seriously. Some hurt like hell and not everything can be fixed with the best bandages. You’re even expected to live your casual day-to-day life as normal because they aren’t deemed too all that serious. Take a couple of Advil and get on with your day, they say. You know what we have to say to that? No. We want bed rest, we want warm blankies and we want the best ice packs money can buy until we are feeling better.
If the best ice packs aren’t already in your freezer, you’re probably using frozen peas. While peas absolutely do get the job done, it’s relatively unsanitary and unconventional. Like, why not just dish out a couple of bucks to have an ice pack on hand when you need it?
Ice packs are great because they’re reusable, meaning they’re there when the unexpected occurs. Most contain water, thickening agents, silica gel, products to help lower the freezing temperature and blue coloring. They have a multitude of uses from minimizing swelling and bleeding to easing muscle pain to simply keeping your food cold inside your cooler.
Most ice packs are traditionally affordable, so don’t feel the need to go above and beyond your budget. We found some of the best ice packs on the internet right now, so check ’em out below.
1. FlexiKold Gel Ice Pack
BEST OVERALL
With over 20,000 five-star reviews on Amazon, it’s without a doubt that the FlexiKold gel ice pack is the best ice pack you can purchase online. It’s packed with an interior gel that stays colder for much longer than most ice pack alternatives out there, so aches and pains can be treated for much longer. Each pack is really flexible so it can easily curve to the body, whether that be your arms, shoulders, legs or even laid flat on your chest or back. It is constructed with double-sealed seams to prevent any leakage or outside condensation so you won’t feel sopping wet while using. Last but not least, it’s even suggested by most healthcare professionals.
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2. Chattanooga ColPac
RUNNER UP
Sizing is everything and the Chattanooga ColPac knows that more than anyone. With four sizes in total, the Chattanooga ColPac is perfect for meeting your specific needs. They are made for heavy use and designed to treat your pains using cold therapy in a way most traditional ice packs can’t. Each is filled with a non-toxic silica gel that’s moveable yet ice-cold for the spots on your body you need it most. Treatment using the Chattanooga ColPac should only last around 30 minutes for safe measure, so as much as you may love it, don’t go overboard!
3. Rester’s Choice Gel Cold & Hot Pack
BEST HOT & COLD
When looking for the best ice packs, some prefer ice packs that have a multi-functional purpose that not only get cold, but also hot. The highest-rated hot and cold pack on Amazon is this one from Rester’s Choice. It comes in a few size options to relieve pain easily no matter where on your body it might be. Keep it in the freezer if you’re looking for some cold therapy or stick it in the microwave when you want the opposite. It’s quite literally that simple. Because it’s constructed with a non-abrasive exterior, you’ll never have to worry about this baby leaking all over the place no matter how many zaps or freezes you put it through.
4. Perfect Remedy Gel Ice Packs for Injuries
MOST STRAIGHTFORWARD
Let’s go back in time for a second. You’re in the fourth grade, you don’t want to go to school, so you tell your mom that you don’t feel so good. “What’s wrong?” she asks. “I have a headache,” you reply. She doesn’t buy it. She’s your mother, she sees right through your lies. You go to school anyway. Here’s your shot to try again. You’re in class, you raise your hand up high, tell the teacher you don’t feel good and go straight down to the nurse’s office. “I have a headache,” you say. How does she reply? By handing you one of these bad boys wrapped in a paper towel with at least a solid 20-minute lay down in her office. Sweet, sweet victory. You know ’em well and you know they work, so might as well snag a couple of these for those just-in-case moments in the future.
5. Fit + Fresh Cool Coolers Slim Ice Packs
BEST FOR KIDS
All of you with kids or working in childcare know best: a bruised-up kid is an unhappy kid. Ice packs? No! Too cold! Makes the pain worse! Not fun! Well, lucky for you, these kid-centric ice packs are ready to take on all childlike owies from burns to booboos. It doesn’t get more fun than penguins, the world’s coldest and cutest bird. Just plop these on top of any hurt kid and they will be feeling better and whining less in no time.
6. Mueller Ice Bag
MOST ORIGINAL
It doesn’t get more old school than the Mueller ice bag. This baby has absolutely none of the bells and whistles newer ice packs have. No gel, no moveability, no nothing. How does it work? Simply fill it to the brim with ice and start pressing. It’s the ice pack your mom had. Heck, it’s the ice pack your grandma had. HECK, it’s the ice pack your great grandparents had. It’s completely unmodern, but hey, it works.
7. Magic Gel Store Back Pain Relief Gel Pack
BEST FOR LOWER BACK PAIN
You know it damn well at this point. With constant hours sitting at your work desk, why are you at all surprised that you began getting lower back pain in your early 20s? This pain relief gel pack made for your lower back is a solution that could help. It’s most certainly not the end all be all, but it definitely relieves any tension, aches and pains you’re storing down there. Each pack wraps around the body for a snug fit and a fast recovery. You can heat or freeze it depending on which you prefer and you can even walk around in it.
8. BLUE ELE Macaron-Colored Ice Pack
BEST FOR LUNCHBOXES
Not all of the best ice packs need to be used for aches and pains. While these cute-colored ice packs absolutely can be used to treat and relieve the body, they’re meant for the inside of your (or your kids’) lunches. Keep that sandy fresh, that apple crisp and that water bottle refreshing all day long with these bad boys. When you get home, simply throw them back in the freezer and use them the next day.
9. Package Free Stainless Steel Ice Pack
BEST STAINLESS STEAL
A sleek, stainless steel ice pack? Count us in. This pack from Package Free is perfect for aches, sores and keeping that lunch cold. It freezes in around two hours’ time and will keep its cool for as long as 6 hours in some cases. It’s fully made of stainless steel and is filled with distilled water for freezing. No, it’s in no way malleable, what you see is that you get here, so keep that in mind before purchasing.
10. Generic Ice Pack for Lunch Box
MOST GENERIC
It is what it is with these ones. You’ve seen them, you’ve owned them, hell — dig toward the back of your freezer and you probably have one encrusted with ice, stuck to the back. These are the most traditional ice packs the world has ever seen. Do they work? Absolutely. Are there better options? Absolutely. But, they’re cheap, familiar and effective, so we couldn’t leave them out.