Ice machine after surgery:
what it is, how long, rent or buy

Looking for an ice machine to rent after knee, hip or shoulder surgery in Dubai? KOLDE rents the Game Ready cold compression therapy machine, delivers it within 24 hours and sets it up at home.

The machine you were told about at discharge

When you leave hospital, the advice often fits in one sentence: put cold on the operated joint.

Some patients have heard of an ice machine, others of a cryotherapy machine or a cold compression machine. These names cover two families of devices, and the difference between them matters from the very first weeks.

The message we receive most often fits on one line: “Hi. Can Game Ready be rented in Dubai? Thank you.” The answer is yes, and this guide covers the questions that usually come right after.

What the machine is called

In English it goes by several names: ice machine, cold therapy machine, cryotherapy machine or cold compression machine. Clinicians tend to say compressive cryotherapy, or cryocompression.

Behind these words there are two families of devices.

• Cold only. The machine circulates iced water through a pad placed on the joint. It cools more evenly than an ice pack, and that is all it does.
• Cold and dynamic compression. The wrap inflates and deflates in cycles, which helps push the fluid that has collected in the tissues back up. The Game Ready® belongs to this family.

What it does after surgery

Two things hold back the start of rehabilitation, pain and swelling. Cold acts on pain and inflammation, compression on the fluid that has already built up around the joint.

Two trials published in 2024 compared these devices with standard cold, with the same rehabilitation in both groups. After shoulder surgery, 200 patients were followed across several Canadian hospitals. The cryocompression group used about half as many opioids as the standard care group, and their function was better at two weeks¹. After a knee replacement, a trial in 40 patients observed a clearer reduction in swelling and in pain on activity at day 21 with cryocompression than with cold packs, along with a better walking distance².

These results describe groups of patients and do not guarantee the same effect for everyone. Both trials are covered in detail in our article Ice pack or cryocompression: what the studies show.

When to start, and how long to use it

You start as soon as you are home. Pain and swelling are at their highest in the first days, and that is when the sessions do the most.

The KOLDE protocol sets the session length by joint.

The temperature stays at 4 °C. Compression is set to low in the first week, then medium from the second. The protocol sheet on each joint page sets these settings out phase by phase.

Most rentals last two to three weeks. If the swelling still comes back at the end of the day when it is time to return the device, it is usually too early: one message is enough to extend, with no second delivery.

Which surgeries it covers

KOLDE supplies an anatomical wrap for six joints. Each one has its own page, with the protocol sheet, the fitting video and the articles.

• Knee, after an ACL reconstruction, meniscus surgery or a knee replacement.
• Shoulder, after a rotator cuff repair or other shoulder surgery.
• Hip, after a hip replacement.
• Ankle, after a sprain, operated or not, a fracture or an Achilles tendon injury.
• Elbow, after elbow surgery.
• Wrist, after wrist surgery.

Rent or buy

An ice machine is mostly needed in the first weeks, when swelling and pain are at their highest. For a two to four week need, renting saves you buying a professional device that will sit unused once rehabilitation is under way.

A KOLDE rental includes delivery, installation, a first session with you and collection of the device. The prices for each duration are on the booking page.

If you compare with a consumer machine, three things make the difference: a regulated temperature, dynamic compression, and a wrap shaped for your joint.

Is it covered by insurance in the UAE?

KOLDE issues a detailed invoice naming the equipment, the rental period and the prescribing surgeon, and helps you put the claim together for your insurer. There is no automatic reimbursement at this time.

Precautions

Common questions

Ice machine for knee surgery: renting a cold compression therapy machine in Dubai

After a knee replacement, an ACL reconstruction or meniscus surgery, most patients look for an ice machine to rent for the first weeks rather than a device to buy. KOLDE rents the Game Ready cold compression therapy machine with the anatomical knee wrap, for the length of time you need it.

The rental covers delivery within 24 hours, setup next to where you rest, a first session with a KOLDE team member and collection at the end. For the knee, sessions last 90 minutes, as often as possible through the day, following the protocol your surgeon or physiotherapist sets.

Book before your operation to have the machine ready when you come home.

Renting post-operative recovery devices in Dubai: what KOLDE offers

KOLDE rents two recovery devices to patients after orthopaedic surgery in Dubai: the Game Ready Pro 2.1 cold compression unit, for pain and swelling, and the Compex SP 8.0 muscle stimulator, to keep the muscle working. They can be rented separately or together as the Recovery Bundle.

Every rental includes delivery across the UAE within 24 hours, setup at home or at the clinic, a walkthrough with a member of the team, and collection at the end. No prescription is needed. The Game Ready comes with the anatomical wrap for the operated joint: knee, hip, shoulder, ankle, elbow or wrist.

Book online or on WhatsApp. Booking before the operation means the devices are ready when you come home.

Need cold compression and muscle stimulation together? See the Recovery Bundle, both devices in one rental in Dubai.