Peas, Icing, and Travel

Admit it. I had you at “peas”.

If you’ve read my earlier posts you’ve heard me praise the wonders of ice to reduce swelling. You also remember that I discovered frozen peas work best; they are flexible and mold to the exact contours of, in my case, knees. I tried the expensive kind with faux ice, but when those freeze they freeze hard, and, they are rectangle. Knees are round. I don’t know how those things would work with any body part, as none that I know of are square.

Anyway. The peas work great. Except for travel. I’ve learned that icing works best pretty quickly after exercise. We mostly dance close to home so this is no problem; I come home, pour myself a glass of wine, and throw the peas on both knees while watching TV with my dance partner. However, the times when we travel father way can be troublesome. Even with a cooler, frozen peas start to smell, um, rather vegetable-like after awhile.

We are about ready for a trip to St. Louis and I really didn’t want to bring my peas. Then Gary discovered something cool (so to speak): disposable ice gel packs. They are not something you’d want to use all the time because at three bucks a pair you’d soon build up a hefty bill if you use them often. But for once in awhile they are fab.

What I have right now are Medline’s “instant cold” packs, but I used another brand last weekend. They all seem the same so look for a good price. What they all have in common is interesting directions. Squeeze the pack until you hear a “pop” the box says. OK. So last Friday after the rockabilly dance I took one out and pressed gingerly. I didn’t want an explosion of blue goo. Nothing happened. So I twisted harder. Still nothing. I gave it to Gary who squeezed with all his manly might…still intact.

Finally he threw it on the floor and stomped it. That worked. So. You don’t have to worry you’ll accidentally ignite them. And understand you'll need lots of pressure to break the inside seal.

How did they work? Beautifully. They stayed cold about twenty minutes. Prefect. And I arrived home with my clothes not smelling of peas. :-)