Frustrating Lace Bite!

[RigTimmins 1]

I know there are some posts about this, but I'd like to try to figure something out. I grew up playing hockey, but I was goal 90% of the time. I started really hittin it hard again a few months ago and I got some RBK 12k skates just to pick it back up again. Gave them to my brother after I started experiencing bad lacebite (and the skates just kinda sucked). I picked up the CCM CLs and i absolutely love how they skate, but the lacebite continues to be incredibly aggravating and sometimes debilatating. Perhaps the skates are not deep enough? I did the pencil test and the top of my foot does touch the pencil around eyelits 3 and 4. I'm gonna bring my skates to the lhs to see if theres anything they can do to fix them, but perhaps it's just my foot. I'm 6'5 220 pounds and I have a decent arch. A friend of mine told me that Graf makes some pretty deep skates..would this be something that I should look into?

Any sort of help is great. Thanks!

[ebs_14 0]

Could be how you tie your skates..I tie the laces in the middle snug but not extra tight

[Fred 0]

Graf could work! You should also see if using some kind of gel pads can relieve the pain.. I exclude lacing methods because you had lace bite also on preview skates. Probably it's a bad fit but if you haven't money to change look for pads..

[voxyledbetter 9]

I just went through this.... Bunga Pad!! I still have some paint, but its no where near as severe as it was with out it. I tried all kind of things before the bunga pad too, but its been a great buy!

[RigTimmins 1]

Ya the Bunga pads just arrived today...was using some gel insoles that I cut but that was just diggin into the outside of my ankle anyway. I tend to tie the bottom pretty tight then leave the middle a little looser and I usually leave the top eyelit undone.

Ha, awesome, was just posting that...excited to try them now...It really became unbearable when I played open hockey the other night on a 3/4 rink with no subs. lots of stops and starts on the short rink and 40 minutes into it I thought I was going to rupture something.

[strosedefence34 175]

to the op, foxyledbetter, and Rig Timmins i suffered through the same thing. What you need to do as per Chadds suggestion to me is change your lacing pattern. Instead of going under the boot go over the boot and through the eye lit and wear a bunga pad. I did this changed everything so far. Its just a pain to lace them up. Check i think its either the end of page one or in page two of this tread for more detail on what im talking about http://www.modsquadhockey.com/forums/index.php?/topic/59048-severe-lace-bite-problem/

[voxyledbetter 9]

Haven't tried changing the lacing pattern yet, but will look into it. Thanks.

The other thing I do is ice it after games.

[Davetronz 109]

Yup, lacing pattern is a big one. Go outside to inside rather than inside to outside. You'll likely find that you won't need to tie your skates as tight using this method...

Also, if you're using an insole like Superfeet you might want to try removing them because they are reducing the amount of volume available for your foot and creating more pressure on the top of the foot.

[flyguy1 1]

You can also just change the lacing pattern in your problem area only if the rest of the skate is fine with no discomfort. I had the same problem, did this and also added a gel pad...now I can skate for hours with no pain

[RigTimmins 1]

Got bunga pads and wore them with slightly padded socks. Laced my skates out to in through the last 5 eyelits and it felt a bit better. Im still concerned that the skate just isn't deep enough. I skated pretty well tonight, but when the subs started leaving, I was out on the ice for around 10-12 minutes with no break and my lacebite flared up again. I don't use in soles...just got em baked and use the stocks, but im gonna try to take em to the lhs tomorrow and see if they can bake em again and maybe figure out a way to deepen it (shallower insoles or something).

[Stewie 721]

I'm guessing if your having that many issues it might be skate fit somehow. I find that the lace bite guard on my new ccms works very well as I don't get bite whereas on my vectors I did.

[RigTimmins 1]

I was thinking it may be too...the laces tend to bulge out after the first 5 or so eyelits..

Guess that may bring me back to my original question of which skates would be deep enough...heard grafs were, what about some of the better bauer supremes?

[flyguy1 1]

Your padded socks are giving u less volume in your skates, try a pair of thin dress socks and bunga pad only and see if it helps. You also might need to let the area heal before you skate again because any pressure there will make it flare up

[forbs02 20]

Got bunga pads and wore them with slightly padded socks. Laced my skates out to in through the last 5 eyelits and it felt a bit better. Im still concerned that the skate just isn't deep enough. I skated pretty well tonight, but when the subs started leaving, I was out on the ice for around 10-12 minutes with no break and my lacebite flared up again. I don't use in soles...just got em baked and use the stocks, but im gonna try to take em to the lhs tomorrow and see if they can bake em again and maybe figure out a way to deepen it (shallower insoles or something).

Even with the padding, if your tendon is still inflamed you will feel pain. Lacebite is tricky because you need to rest it to allow it to heal. Be sure to do ice massage after you play and maybe take a couple of weeks off. Then try your skates again with the padding and see if it works.

[RigTimmins 1]

Really appreciate all the help guys...I'm playin once more this week before I head to Costa Rica for a few weeks, so that'll give me time to rest em.

[goosedennis 0]

If you aren't interested in Bunga Pads, you could always do what Peter Taglianetti did.

[ktang 34]

The G-Form lacebite pads are very good.

[Tailboard Jockey 25]

I tried Bunga and Maltese before finally sticking with the G-Form lacebite pads. They seem to work the best for me, and they're cheap.

[epstud74 24]

IMO, the pads are only a stop-gap measure..Let's face it..your skates do not fit you if you're having any lacebite issues

[SydNap 25]

I think I posted something here about 6 months ago on ms, but I went through terrible lacebite, and being a science teacher I conducted trial and error, and a ton of research. Basically, you're dealing with really bad tendonitis..adductor longus if I rember correctly. Either way, I tried bunga pads, maltese pads, pipe insulation and lacing patterns. What I found that worked best was a simple $3 trick. Buy some thick black pipe insulation and then cut into a 3x4 inch rectangle. Place over the bottom of your leg...or more speficially flex your toes upwards and see how that tendon pops up. The trick is now to cut a "slit" or small opening in the insulation right where the tendon will pop up on your skate return/skating backwards. That slit will allow the tendon to adduct upwards, but keep the pressure off. Then, try the over/under lacing pattern on the eyelets where it burns..for me it was the top eyelet. I also stopped using my highly waxed elite laces, and went back to bauer laces. I used that fix for about a month, and my really bad lacebite is gone, I'm now back to no padding and regular lacing. Finally, I've been doing some ankle adduction exercises...the opposite of calf raises..with rubber bands and my skate return is better, and I feel sturdy. PM me if you need more info...or hunt for the Peter Forsberg method to lacebite. Good luck!

[RigTimmins 1]

Just returned from Costa Rica. Haven't played in two weeks, but the bumps are still there from before and are somewhat tender. Just to be safe, I'll try the pipe insulation with the slit tonight when I play. I had my skates baked again and used a different lacing pattern that seemed to alleviate the problem somewhat. my right skate still has a bit more wobble in the ankle than my left skate does which is kind of annoying. The middle of the skate bulges out quite a bit still, so I'm sure the skates just aren't deep enough, but it seems like people say the RBK/CCM boots are usually the deepest.

[oldtrainerguy28 478]

What is the profile and pitch on your skate? "Sometimes" it can be as simple as a lightly more forward profile to take the strain off that part of your foot. I also owend the CL and put in Superfeet and a more forward profile and it went away completly. When I switched to my new Graf's it came back a little so again put in Superfeet and a slight pitch and it was good. I did end going forward because I didnt feel on my toes enough.

Hope that helps as well!

[RigTimmins 1]

Profile and pitch would be the stock numbers on the 2012 CL, but I'm not sure of the numbers myself. I've always been a little bit worried about a forward profile on skates since I'm like 6'9 on the ice, but it would be something I'd be willing to try!

[oldtrainerguy28 478]

Well if you went with a longer profile like an 11 then a very slight Pitch would only help with knee bend and less pressure on your foot. I have dont Bryan Boyles and another player a lake Superior Kellan Lane and both are about the same height and niether had an issue with it (and yes I know there pro) but the idea of height and blade profile is the same. I know Brian switched it later to even more blade on the ice and went back to Neutral but he was on a reversewhern I saw him.

If your skates are like mine were there was a reverse lean with just under a 10ft radius. Al depends on how much sharpening you have had done. I also might suggest you try the Step steel so you can do more on profiling and still have blade left.

[SydNap 25]

Timmons, you may also want to try some advil before skating, and then a good icing afterwards and several times a day if possible to get that swelling out of there.