Toebox sides of toe too snug

[YouTuuk 0]

I had good luck punching my toe cap of my XXV's with tools picked up from Home Depot - a Hex Nut with a round cap, an eyelet and a C-Clamp.

You unlace your skates totally - and heat the skate the local area a bit with heat gun, put the Hex Nut with the round cap inside were you want to punch - and the eyelet on the outside of skate at the same area. Then you take a C-Clamp and try to squeeze the Hex Nuts round cap so it goes inside the eyelet and presto instant punch!!!

[meteor 0]

I'm experiencing the toebox problem too...pinching of the small toe on my left skate (Easton S-7). The odd thing about this is it started bugging me only after 100+ hours on the ice, ie. long after the skates were (very comfortably) broken in. The LHS punched the problem area and it felt fine for another 3-4 hours of ice time, now it's pinching again. It seems a little weird to me...almost like the skate is starting to degrade. Should I continue to have the shop aggressively punch this area or is this a sign that my skates are breaking down? Until now, I've been very happy with them.