While compression stockings or socks have a clear medical benefit for those at risk of blood clots in the legs, they are becoming more and more popular these days. It’s not uncommon to see athletes, like runners or basketball players, wearing them to facilitate blood flow. Pilots, aircrew members, and passengers on long-haul flights wear them to reduce the risk of blood clots and combat swelling from inactivity.
How Compression Stockings Work
Compression stockings help increase circulation by forcing blood flow from the feet back toward the heart. Blood in the body is subject to the effects of gravity, like everything else, and using compression stockings promotes blood flow.
Many people can benefit from their use, but for those with serious medical issues such as deep vein thrombosis (DVT), the benefits are great. People with venous leg ulcers, leg swelling, and those with circulation problems can also benefit from compression stockings.
The benefits of compression stocking:
- Improves blood flow
- Prevents blood from pooling in the legs
- Decreases the risk of blood clots
- Reduces leg swelling
- Improves the flow of fluid to cells (known as lymph)
- Reduces muscular and skeletal stress
- Improves symptoms of vein disease
Compression stockings also help reduce the symptoms of varicose veins and spider veins, such as fatigue, swelling, itching, burning, and leg cramps. They are particularly helpful for pregnant women. With swelling and varicose veins effects from pregnancy, compression stockings can come in handy by keeping blood flow steady and squeezing the areas of the leg, feet, and ankle where buildup of fluid in the tissue can occur.
Other groups that can benefit from compression stockings include those who spend a lot of time on their feet. Nurses, teachers, servers, tellers, flight attendants and others who stand all day and are subject to leg fatigue can gain a measure of comfort from their use.
All insurance companies require patients to trial compression stockings prior to treatment for varicose veins. The range of time required is anywhere from 6 weeks to 3 months. Anyone interested in seeking treatment for varicose veins, should trial compression stockings first.
Because of all the medical benefits, and the comfort that they can provide, Denver Vein Center now sells Medi brand compression stockings. To learn more about the type and thickness of compression stocking that is right for you, call Denver Vein Center at (303) 777-8346, and find relief today.