I have had this item for about 6 months now, and am very impressed with how well it works. The first time my partner and I tried to use it, I thought I was going to break the disc, because I didn't think it was as strong as it is. So, I spent a few minutes trying to figure out how to "crack" it, without breaking it. But, I think I was just being silly. My partner had no trouble with it, as I'm sure most people don't.

As soon as you "crack" the disk, the gel inside immediately starts turning into crystals and heating up. For my partner and I both, it's too hot for our skin in the beginning. So we start off with just massaging a lavender scented lotion onto each other's back then we lay a very thin towel down on the others back and place the heart down on the small of the back. While the hot heart is sitting on the back, we massage the shoulders for a bit until we've gotten used to the heat. After we can handle the heat, we remove the towel, place massage lotion on the heart and use the heart to massage the lotion into the skin. It's a little harder to glide across the skin if a.) there's no lotion underneath, and b.) before the gel has all the way turned into crystals.

Thankfully, the heat lasts long enough for us to both benefit from it's use.

After you're done using the product, you should remember to boil it to turn the crystals BACK into it's original gel form. It's really not fun to be in the mood NOW for a relaxing, heated massage and then have to wait and boil the crystals back into a gel.

Though, if you don't mind the wait.. you can boil it and use the heated gel (I recommend wrapping it in a thin towel right after boiling) during your massage and just crack the disc when the heat starts to fade.