How to Prevent Common Foot Injuries in Skates

For new players, learning about the different parts of their skates is helpful for understanding player safety. Learning how to lace hockey skates is also beneficial for injury prevention. As mentioned, hockey, with all its beauty, can also put a lot of wear and tear on a player’s body — especially the feet.

Common foot injuries from hockey can include bumps, small cysts and irritation. Players can also suffer from:

• Plantar fasciitis, a form of tendonitis that affects the bottoms of the feet.
• Metatarsal stress fractures, which can cause pain on the top of the foot.
• Lace bite, which is so common that it’s sometimes referred to as “skate bite.”

Lace bite can result from irritation on the front part of the ankle due to pressure from the laces and the hockey skate’s tongue. Lace bite typically occurs when a player over-tightens their laces in an effort to create a better fitting and performing skate. The tighter the player wears the skates, the more intense the pain becomes. Changing the lacing patterns of the hockey skates or padding the top of the foot inside the boot can relieve some pressure. Using Panther Teeth can also help hockey players eliminate lace bite by creating separate zones of lace tension.