Herbal Concepts Aromatherapy Vest Shaped Microwaveable Wrap Made of Organic Flaxseed, Peppermint, & Lemon Grass for Back | Back Pack Relieves Stress & Pain | Available in Mauve

I had a cotton heating pad from this same brand that lasted for years, so when it finally burst a seam I ordered this one to replace it. It looks like they don't make the cotton ones anymore. The soft fabric is nice, and it smells good, but it arrived with multiple unfinished seams and immediately dumped a bunch of flaxseed on my floor. The seamed panels aren't actually stitched through both layers, so there's no internal compartments at all. I'm returning it as soon as I fix it enough to not spill more flaxseed everywhere in transit.

This thing is great! It's perfect for easing knots and aches in my upper back and shoulders. It also smells really good!! The one thing I would change about it is I would have made the tabs that hang over the front on your shoulders longer or perhaps put Velcro on them so it would secure better. It's fairly heavy and it's obviously weighted more in the back so it slips off unless you are laying down or propped up with cushions. Other than that it's perfect! Also the microwave time suggestion seems conservative, I had to heat it for about 3 1/2 minutes before it was hot enough..... But I would suggest following the instructions because every microwave is different . I know from experience with the herb stuffed heating pads that you can scorch the stuffing if you zap it too long. Then it smells like burnt popcorn!!

I bought the Herbal Concepts Neck Wrap and loved it so much I purchased the Back Pac. Both are made from the same soft fabric and aromatic herbs, but the Back Pac has some issues that the neck wrap didn't have.For one the back pac is very heavy: 4 lbs 3 ½ oz to be exact. If you have back problems, or internal issues (due to chemo, surgery, etc) the wrap can feel like a ton of bricks.Second issue was the stitching. The pac is stitched with vertical and horizontal lines making what looks like compartments. But the stitching does not completely seal off the compartments, so when you lift the pac gravity takes control and all the herbs slide to the bottom. After a few seconds you get this huge lump of herbs pooled at the bottom. I found myself spending a lot of time redistributing the herbs into all the compartments. In the end I pulled out a needed and thread, redistributed the herbs, and then stitched all the compartments closed.So a good product if you don't mind the weight, and if you are handy with a needle and thread.

I have purchased many such products mainly for my wife and thought that this would be good considering that it is large and wraps around the neck area. It does lay on the back as expected and does surround the neck as expected, but the one thing that I wanted it to perform was to function as a cold pack. I placed it in the freezer for a few days and then placed it on my wives back. It was not as cold as, say, other ice packs from a freezer. I would say that it was cool, but not freezer cold. I gave it a three star rating for that reason only. Remember that I did not use it for heat and I was impressed with its shape and the way it covered the back. Now take in account that if you do not like a really cold pack then this would be suitable for your need. If you want a cold pack that really is cold, then I felt this does not do that purpose. I would recommend this for someone that wants some cold pack, but not so cold that you would need a towel to protect your skin. I do not think you could go wrong with this product. It did not produce that extreme cold that I thought it would for my wife.

One of the features I liked about this product was the shape. It was designed to cover the whole back rather than just the upper or lower back. Unfortunately it was not quite long enough to drape over my shoulders to hold in place and cover my whole back. Aside from this it did provide relief to more areas than the average heating pad.One feature I did NOT like was the way the beads inside could shift from one area of the pad to another so easily. Though there are several chambers sewn into the pad to hold the beads from all shifting to the bottom, there are gaps at the outside edges that allow the beads to shift down to the lower cells. It was a little difficult to distribute them all evenly, affix the pad on my back, and get them to stay in place while arranging the pad to my liking.The pad also took a very long time to heat up to a therapeutic temperature. The instructions indicated that I should heat it 2 minutes and then check it and add time in 30 second increments... I needed to heat the pad for up to 4 minutes to get the temperature correct.

I've read reviews stating they hate that the beads inside moves because it's not sewn but I had no problem with that. The beads are easy to even out. The smell is good and soothing. The size is also perfect because it covers the whole back. My problem is the heat. The instruction says heat for 1 minute then additional 30 seconds increments until you reach the desired heat but still, it never gets hot. It does get warm but not enough to serve its purpose. Even at the warmest, it's still at room temp and my 2 yr old doesn't have a problem touching it.

I have ordered these multiple times over the past few years in a multitude of colors but the brown one has come leaking two times. They replaced the first one almost immediately even before I sent the other one back but I woke up this morning with the seeds all over my bed. Maybe try another color because I have had the white, blue and black with absolutely no issues!

I read the other reviews but decided to give this a try anyway. Big mistake. Even if I tried sewing the pockets closed myself it would be worthless. If you have someone that can lay this on your while you laying on your stomach everything would still shift to the sides and not stay on the back area where you want it. They have another version, but who can afford a hundred bucks on this? Not me. Had to pay return shipping, but worth it to get this junk out of my house. Loved the smell though (sigh).