Great setup up. You get base handle (orange), metal roller ball that unscrews in middle and 2 inserts. Blue rubber ball with gel goes in freezer for 2 hours, orange ball goes in microwave for 45 seconds. Put hot or cold ball insert into metal ball and **** closed and attached to base handle.
you end up with a hot or cold therapy ball that rolls and you can massage in as deep or hard as you want with either heat or cold.
great product A++
****Update after one week of use****
The orange round heat ball is showing signs of blowing out-looks like an egg on one end now-pimple like bulge at top. Returning for a replacement. This may be due to over heating in microwave. Directions say 45seconds in microwave, but depending on power of microwave or what power setting its set to, might over heat the ball and cause it burst. after a week, heating it once a day for 45 seconds now is slightly leaking and looks like an egg. You have to be careful not to overheat it.
I read some of the other reviews, this is easiest thing to use. To remove metal ball. Grab Black base with one hand, hold tight, with other hand and turn orange top counter clock wise about a 1/16 of a turn and pull orange top ring off. Then remove metal ball and do the same thing. grab on end and turn counter clockwise with other hand. Its really easy.
5 stars for therapy use of hot and cold roller ball.
1 star for defective heat ball. Will see if it was just a fluke, defect one of or bad design. waiting on replacement to arrive.
*****Update*****
I emailed KT Tape support at: [****]
Told them what was going on with heat ball, they are sending out a new one at no charge, so they stand behind there product. Impressive customer support.
Gives an excellent, ergonomic massage, especially for trigger points and scar tissue. Comfortable even with major hand pain. Easy to carry and can't be mistaken for an adult device when in public. However, the steel ball is extremely difficult to open even for the able-bodied. It works without the hot or cold inserts, but the difficulty of opening it makes it very hard to get full value out. FSA-eligible.
There are so many similar products on the market, but chose the RT because of its unique features.
This one offers both hot and cold and it holds the heat and cold for plenty of time to use. It is able to do it because you heat and cool an insert rather than the metal ball. Most others have trouble with the metal ball rolling once it’s frozen, but the RT has no issues and rolls easily for both hot and cold massage. The metal ball and metal threads are very high quality. The design is very ergonomic and comfortable to use. The build quality is excellent and far exceeds the price paid. The black and orange piece was difficult to open out of the box, but once opened if you open and close it 6 times it breaks it in and than opens and closes smoothly. Using the unit without heat or cold also provides an amazing massage to every part of the body.
The design gets into the areas that an ice cube can not get. It really brings relief after a massage to the foot/ankle/calf.
Works so well! I use it on my hand to break up scar tissue and I can tell a difference for sure. I also use it on my neck, shoulders, arms etc. which all bother me because I do a lot of art and computer work. It is less painful and less inflamed. I will say the heat is really good. Be extremely careful when warming it because it traps the heat on the inside but it does take a sec to get warm. It stays warm for a long time too! I will say my only thing I didn’t love about it which I have only had it a few days now is that it roughs up the heating ball on the inside, that’s the only reason for the 4 stars.
In love with the duality that this product gives you and is compact enough for travel
The “ice” insert does not stay cold for more than 10 minutes while using it on your body. The “heat” insert lasts much longer. It can be difficult to twist the orange and black (top and bottom) parts of the device to open it if you have a weak grip. I do like the fact it is a two-in-one device.
A little pricey, but such a great tool. I use heat and cool functions to help manage my severe rheumatoid arthritis and love the easy glide of this massager. With the cooling insert in particular it maintains an effective temp for at least an hour and the ball re-freezes quickly. The heated ball is great too, I just don’t use it as much when working on my joints. The first few times I needed to open the orange ring it was impossible for my weak hands and my husband had to do it. It’s easier now but if you have smaller or weak fingers be prepared to need help. Still worth it and better than the old days of using melted Dixie cups to work your joints!
Excellent product. Was the only product that finally got the swelling down because the ball's movement promoted best blood flow versus a sack of ice just sitting on the injury. It also rotates to heat therapy which is so helpful when both hot & cold therapy is needed. The only thing is that when it first arrived it took an act of God to unscrew the outer case. I only half close it when using to avoid the struggle of having it close up too tightly. I use on my ankles so having some sort of extender attached to this would be super helpful.
This massage ball is really awesome. The hot massage works nicely with a muscle knot, I felt much better after about 15 mins using this massage ball. The cold massage helps a lot after exercise. I practice martial arts so I get banged up a lot, this ball is a life saver.
One of the main issues that have been discussed a lot about this massage ball is that it is not very easy to open for the first time but it's not impossible. I found that it's easier to open when I flip the black part up. Hold the orange part with another hand and turn the black part counter-clockwise. I'm a 5'3" girl with a small hand (i'm wearing small size glove) and I can open it so can you.
Also, beware of the leak. As you can see in the picture, that's my first shipment. I thought it was just a steam due to the temperature fluctuated. However, when I opened the box and touched it, it felt a bit tacky and it is definitely not a regular water but it felt like a chemical fluid. I assumed that it might be the balls were leaking. So I decided to return the item and order another one which came in with no problem at all.
I replaced my myofascial tennis balls with this and I love it. The heat and cold are a big bonus and really help relax my muscles. I am very pleased with this product and would purchase again.
After reading the multiple reviews I was skeptical about this product but it seemed like a great idea if it works the way it is supposed to as I have flare ups from a repetitive use injury in my nasal thumb joint. The product arrived with no issues or internal explosions to the inner cores. I was actually very interested in the heat ball but after reading reviews of it leaking and exploding in microwaves I was a bit leery. I will say that the best advice because it does not come with directions is when opening the outer plastic casing work it just a bit clockwise then back and forth until it opens. It took me about a dozen times of this to get mine open out of the package. My advice for the heat insert is to microwave for 15 seconds then remove and kind of shake it gently for 15 seconds then put it back in the microwave for another 15 seconds then insert into metal casing and from there to the plastic casing. I find it relieves my pain from my flare ups. It is not super scorching hot but then I am not to burn myself... just to feel better. I think the price is a little steep but it has definitely worked for me when I have used it so far.
I"m a rehabilitative animal massage therapist. I recommend getting the set and if you don't have a microwave, open the steel ball and run very hot water and allow it to absorb heat for a few minutes before putting it together. I purchased two sets so that I can go on both sides of the spinous process simultaneously… I can also do alternating hot and cold therapy this way.
If you have a microwave, put the red ball in for 15 seconds, take it out shake it up put in for another 15 seconds. And you can still soak the metal ball in hot water and you’ll have a nice long heat therapy!
The ice ball can be felt through the metal roller but the heating element was difficult to produce without exceeding the maximum heating time. It’s easy to put together and use but it is not advised to roll this item over any body part with hair on it as it will pinch and snag the hairs right out. The massage element of the roller only provides mild pain relief on the surface of skin and lacks the ability for reaching deeper tissue unless copious amounts of pressure is placed on the device. Overall good for very mild aches and pains.
My husband is a runner and loves this. I gave it to him for Christmas. It gets REALLY hot and stays hot!! Haven’t tried cold yet.
I use this often for plantar fasciitis and tennis elbow and it works great. The massage and heat really gives pain relief. Just dont microwave the inner ball more than what the directions say. It will burst!
I believe this has been helpful with one of my ailments. However, when rolling it often pinches me which can be super painful.
The heat ball exploded in the microwave after the 2nd 15 second round in the microwave. It made a huge mess. I’m gonna stick with the cold ball. I was really disappointed in the heated ball performance.
This product is wonderful! The hot and cold inserts work great! When I first received the massage ball, I had a problem opening the housing. The customer service was extraordinary! They helped me out with tips that helped open the housing and immediately sent me another that was pre opened!
Great company! Highly recommend!!
A little pricy, but it is worth it. There is nothing really on the market like this. I primarily use the ice ball. Its so easy to get a deep massage. Sometimes if its too painful, I will use a regular ice pack on the area for a while to numb the pain and then perform deep tissue and cross fiber massage with this product.
The only reason I'm writing this review is because the negatives reviews regarding the opening of the bowl halves. One review describes it as 'impossible'. Far be it from the truth. Either, one does not have any grip strength whatsoever or forgot what direction is for loosing or tightening. Grab both halves (Black and Orange) and twist at the same time, counterclockwise. That's it! I, personally, have issues with the steel ball and the ease to damage the threads if one is not careful while putting the steel back together which are really fine thread. I tried the heat ball first and it does work and stays warm awhile. This product works as advertised don't let the weaklings reviews deter you from getting a good product.
Not too bad of a product. Bought it when my massage gun died and I was in desperate need of something quick to get some knots out. I like the 2 inserts it comes with. They cool or heat the metal ball pretty quickly and keep it cold or hot for a lengthy amount of time. It wasn't difficult to take it apart to add the inserts. The only thing I don't love about this is the metal ball gets stuck a lot causing it not to roll. Overall it definitely helps with knots and sore muscles.