Yup, Icing can be a pain just like elevating the area and I think a lot of people do it at night or if they're sitting down to watch a film etc. A decent icing pack is a good purchase to be honest. I had a friend who used to get ice cubes, wrap them up in a towel and tie it around his leg when he'd been injured (which was most of the time, he did kick-boxing and wasn't very good at it
) anyway after the film he was watching or nap he was taking he'd end up with a big wet patch on his sofa. Needless to say he wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer.
Maybe you were massaging a bit too hard or to early but then some people just don't like it or benefit as much as others it's down to what works for you really, heh much like everything else in the world.
I was getting professional massages- deep tissue. But I leave that now for those days when I'm feeling 100% and just want to go in and have my tissue broken up a little to release the toxins. If I'm injured (happens a lot lately- gettin' old!), then I hold back on massages and focus on the ice therapy... with ice packs more than ice, of course. As you pointed out, filling with ice cubes ain't the smartest thing in the world. It just makes you look like you got potty pants.
koffee