It seems like we have always had multiple zip locks bags of grotesquely shaped ice in the freezer, left over from the last minor injury. It’s really not just the aging athletes of the family who do this. With several children in the family, it seems someone always has need to ice a body part. Since it is general knowledge that someone will need ice soon, there is an attempt at conservation. However, by the time the next person needs ice, the previous bags have been forgotten, hidden, or simply turned rock-hard-pointy-uncomfortable. And they stack up until I clean the freezer out.
This month the need for ice became more intense after my engineer’s right shoulder’s rotator cuff required surgery. He tried the EB Ice machine for a while, but lack of right arm function coupled with extreme pain made it hard to strap it on close enough to do a lot of good. The perviously mentioned ice bags were much to stiff for effective contact or comfort. He liked the gel packs that they put on him after physical therapy, so he researched how to make one.
You can buy a ready made gel pack at Walmart for about $20. You can make one for about $8. Sources online suggested a water to isopropyl alcohol ration of 3:1. This was placed in a regular plastic freezer container so it would be easy to evaluate. When he checked it again the next day, my engineer judged it was still too liquid and not freezing enough. He added another cup of water, bringing the final approved recipe to 4 cups of water mixed with 1 cup of isopropyl alcohol.
While he waited for this amended mixture to freeze, he went and bought a $6 nine inch Mueller ice bag at Walmart. It has a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) liner which is pliable. This is covered by a soft blue fabric that is supposed to help any moisture evaporate before it drips. After another day in the freezer, the gel-ice mixture was spooned into the bag because none of our funnels were the right size.
The home made gel pack ice bag feels colder than a regular ice and water bag, which makes sense since it can be colder than 32°F. It doesn’t freeze solid, so will always be flexible and form fitting to the body part in need of icing. Everyone in my family may be getting a bottle of isopropyl alcohol and a TPU lined bag in their next Christmas stocking. We have plenty of colored Sharpie markers that they can use to decorate the bags to keep track of whose is whose.
