Sunbeam® Renue® XL Heating Pad for Back Pain Relief - Large Electric Heat Wrap with Auto Shut-Off, Machine Washable - Perfect for Muscle Pain, Arthritis & Relaxation at Home or Office

This heating pad has been my life saver, i would not be able to function in life without this heating pad. I use it for hours Every. Single. Day. I suffered a neck and spine injury a couple years ago. The injury has left me with nerve damage and chronic spasms in my neck, traps, mid back, and shoulder blade region. My spasms are very easily triggered, I usually wake up with a tightness that turns into a spasm in my back. If I get stressed out, my neck will get tight thereby triggering a spam. Lift something with my left arm, here comes another spam. My life is a constant struggle of trying to not bring on back and neck spasms. That being said this heating pad has helped me tremendously.I use it first thing when I wake up to release any tightness I might have gotten in my neck and back from sleeping. And it works. The heat penetrates deep into the muscles relaxing them. If I feel tightness coming on later in the day I use my heating pad for about 20 minutes and it helps release those muscles. I use it at night before bed to calm my muscles down and the heat soothes and makes me sleepy. It's great, I literally use it all day long, all year round. It has saved me from so much pain, helped me from having to take round the clock medications and muscle relaxers and has allowed me to function so much better in daily life.What makes this heating pad so great and different is a few really important things:The Shape. It goes not just on your back but over your shoulders on your traps (which are a muscle of constant tightness for all people) It extend up the back of your neck (another tight area on most people) AND THERE'S ACTUALLY HEATING COILS IN THE NECK PART!!!! The cheaper brands show the neck part but there are no heating elements in them! Trust me I've tried them. That's the biggest difference and why you should buy this Sunbeam over any no name brands that might be cheaper. You're paying for quality.The heating pad can go from slight soothing heat to really hot. It has a controller that goes from warm, low, medium and high. I never use this on bare skin because high can get very hot and actually give you some burns, especially if you lean back against it on a couch or chair (they caution you on the box to never lay or lean on it, but I do all the time, you just have to watch how hot it's getting)It heats up very quickly, in seconds you'll feel the heat which is great. The material of this heating pad vs other sunbeam heating pads is much softer. It has a very silky soft minky cover which is nice.The only thing I will caution on, is do not twist the shoulder straps. I got into the habit of wrapping them up in the front around my neck like a turtleneck because the front of my neck gets tight. But after a few months of pulling them in a way they weren't supposed to go, I damaged the heating wires in the neck part. As a result it would get super super hot and burn me in that spot. So I learned my lesson and it's not the fault of Sunbeam, I really was bending and damaging the wires inside it. So I ordered a new one and this one I am careful not to bend it that way. So use caution, it's not good to fold the pad in half or sit on it etc, there are little wire coils inside that can be damaged that way.I've owned and tried many heating pads since my spine injury and this Sunbeam heating pad is the best to hit all of the areas I need. It has been a lifesaver for me. If you need lower back heat, this will only reach to the bottom of your rib cage depending on how tall you are. I am 5'5" and that's where it stops on me. But If your looking for heat on your neck, shoulders, upper and mid back all at once...this is the heating pad for you.