If you have lace bite, you should ice after every game. Icing made the single biggest difference in my own recovery from lace bite to start skating pain free again.
Healthcare providers often recommend the RICE protocol for soft tissue injuries like lace bite. RICE stands for rest, icing, compression, and elevation. It’s intended to reduce swelling and aggravation to the soft tissue injury to promote a faster recovery. RICE treatment should start as soon after the injury as possible.
For hockey players, the challenging part about RICE is that it’s inconvenient. Are you going to ice in the locker room right after the game? How? If you drive home before icing, will you forget? And how long will it take you to get home?
I wasn’t icing because it was inconvenient, so I created an ice sleeve and cooler specifically for lace bite.
The ice sleeve fits snugly over the foot and ankle, which ices and compresses the area around your lace bite. It’s hands free so it’s also easy to elevate your foot and move around in the locker room. The cooler is measured to fit the ice sleeve, and it keeps it almost as cold as when you pull it out of the freezer.
But you don’t need a fancy ice pack to treat lace bite. Any ice pack will do. I’ve found this to be a little more convenient and effective.
You buy the ice pack and cooler here. I use them after every time I skate.
