I purchased this healing pad about a month ago and have used it daily for a nagging back problem. The infrared heat does seem to be of some benefit. The reason for the one star rating is from the terrible connection between the plug from the controller with the pad. The heat often would shut off when I rolled over or flexed the pad to cover my shoulder. The connection area was never separated completely but only by a small amount. Upon careful inspection and measurement of the connection area, I found the cause. The plug from the controller has four pins which insert into four sockets in the connector end of the pad. Incredibly, there is no electrical contact until the plug is pushed in within ONE-SIXTEENTH of an inch of it's final end position. Both the pins and sockets are recessed excessively. The sensation of a snug fit comes from the plastic parts of the connector making contact. The connector ends only have to loosen one-sixteenth of an inch to lose electrical contact, which is very easy to do. Then a display of 00 appears on the controller screen. You can't just push the plug back in either. You have to get up and unplug the power at the wall and replug it to reset the controller. When you plug in the power plug of any appliance or tool, there is at least three eighths of an inch of electrical contact, or six times more than this pad. I contacted Therasage to explain the problem and see if a newer model with a better connector was available. However, this design is their newest model. They had a loose connector problem with their previous model also. If I was the president of Therasage, then I would fire the moron who designed this connector because it's one of the worst I've ever seen. If you decide to buy this healing pad, then you should leave the pad connected, otherwise it will keep loosening further, and you will have to carefully lay on it flat only.