I’m not going to lie. My life was better before ice massage became an essential part of my daily routine. Between the injury to my foot and chronic tenderness in my elbow, I am starting to develop personal preferences and opinions in the best form factors to use for ice massage. This is what my life has come to.
The low cost and low tech solution is to simply freeze a cup of water in a Styrofoam cup and then peel it back to expose the ice for the massage. Styrofoam is definitely better than paper or plastic cups because it insulates the hand that applies the ice. That is more important than you might think. The downside is that the ice melts and drips all over the place. Consequently, I pretty much only use that method outdoors.
Freezing a plastic water bottle also works pretty well. The ice stays contained in the bottle so it doesn’t soak everything when it melts, but it does throw off a lot of condensate. This is the portable solution that I have been using for match play. I have found that the bottle stays solid enough through the duration of one match. If it melts too much there is always the option to cut the bottle off and apply the ice directly.
When my recent spate of injuries happened, there was already a Phyya Rehab Cryo Ball in my freezer from some forgotten injury of yore. After I started using it in earnest, I actually ordered two more of these so I have one handy in the freezers in the three places where I spend most of my time. The ball can pivot in all directions and I have found the hand grip to be well insulated and ergonomic friendly. The flat base also makes it possible to treat my feet on the floor. That is a definite plus.
Some people swear by the form factor that has the ball mounted on a longer handle. This makes it easier to reach the bottom of my feet, but I find the single axel of motion to be less than ideal for me at times. I think it is simply a matter of personal preference.
If you have any injury where ice massage can help with the swelling and pain, then I strongly recommend stocking a cryo ball in your freezer. Throw in a few water plastic bottles while you are at it.
 | Phyya Rehab – Cold Massage Roller Ball |
 | Sub·Zero Cryosphere Cold Massage Therapy Ball |
