Compression stockings are widely used to maintain the correct, from a physiological point of view, pressure in a person's lower limbs. Such socks are used in the complex treatment of varicose veins, as well as for the prevention of this disease. In medicine, special underwear for veins is called medical tights. Also called compression or anti-varicose underwear, medical tights.
Tights, socks, as well as compression knee pads for varicose veins are recommended to be worn by phlebologists. Such underwear should also be worn for thrombosis, thrombophlebitis, lymphedema and other problems with the blood vessels of the limbs.
What kind of compression underwear is, which is better - compression tights or socks, the doctor will say and recommend during the meeting.
The therapeutic effect of using such underwear is manifested due to the fact that socks, leggings or tights support the vessels, compress the varicose vein. This in turn redistributes blood flow evenly from dilated vessels to healthy ones.
Such underwear helps to activate blood circulation, improve tissue nutrition.
Choosing the right compression stockings can help reduce the risk of blood clots.
Another important argument in favor of the use of such underwear is that there are almost no contraindications to the use of medical knitwear. It does not cause side effects, but at the same time it is a good method to prevent the progression of varicose veins and helps maintain the veins in a physiological state.
How does compression underwear work for varicose veins?
In the past, when medical jerseys were not produced, elastic bandages were used for varicose veins. However, their use has several significant drawbacks.
- First of all, elastic bandages must be applied for a long time and in order to obtain the desired effect, this must be done correctly.
- An important drawback is the inability to wear an elastic bandage all the time. The unaesthetic appearance does not allow it to be worn every day, while, for example, compression underwear and knitwear from other modern manufacturers look very beautiful and aesthetically pleasing.
- Despite the fact that the bandages have a low price, it will not be possible to save money when wearing them. Eventually, such a bandage quickly becomes unusable. That is why it is better to learn how to choose high-quality knitwear and buy compression underwear for varicose veins.
What is compression underwear for and what is its effect? Compressing varicose veins, this braided tissue accelerates blood flow through the deep veins. As a result, venous stasis is eliminated, which is a prerequisite for the development of varicose veins. Those who are interested in which compression underwear is better for varicose veins, should keep in mind that it is worth buying high quality products. Ultimately, branded high-quality knitwear provides a gradual, that is, gradual reduction in pressure from the wrist to the shoulder or from the lower leg to the thigh.
For example, a good online store for compression underwear for varicose veins offers socks that provide maximum (100%) pressure in the lower leg and partially (40%) in the thigh area. This distribution is the most correct from a physiological point of view, therefore it provides the greatest therapeutic effect. With this pressure distribution regime, blood flow is normalized due to the following effect:
- The operation of the valve apparatus improves and returns to normal.
- The dilated lumen of the peripheral veins of the thighs and lower legs, especially the subcutaneous ones, decreases.
- The effect of the muscle pump increases. When muscles contract during exercise, blood is pushed up.
Effective compression underwear for pregnant women. But during pregnancy you should choose such a leotard, guided by the individual recommendations of a doctor.
How to choose compression stockings?
Before choosing compression stockings for varicose veins, you must clearly understand that such underwear can not eliminate the serious causes of venous insufficiency. Therefore, it is used before radical treatment. The medical leotard simulates the situation as if the veins were dilated, removed or sealed.
In addition, it is important to understand that non-surgical treatment of foot diseases should always be comprehensive. Only in this case the effect will be maximum. It is very important not only to wear compression underwear, but also to use ointments and creams prescribed by a doctor, to practice folk remedies for the prevention and treatment of varicose veins, as well as to lead a healthy lifestyle.
To make the effect most noticeable, it is important to choose the right medical underwear. In this case, you need to take into account not only the reviews that can be read online, and the prices of underwear, but also its quality, compression classes.
Compression knitwear is usually divided into three types:
- hospital - ie one that is used exclusively in a hospital;
- medical;
- prophylactic.
But whether the jersey is necessary for treatment or prevention, it should be bought exclusively in specialty stores or in stores that are official dealers of manufacturers of such underwear, recognized by doctors. It is important in such stores to help consumers choose the right size for the jersey, as it depends on the effectiveness of treatment. To find the perfect underwear, the seller first measures the legs in four places. Then a special table of sizes is used, according to which socks or tights are chosen.
You can buy underwear in four degrees of compression:
- First-class compression(18-21 mm Hg) - preventive jersey, the wearing of which is shown in the following cases:
- during pregnancy;
- with a tendency to varicose veins;
- in the presence of initial symptoms of varicose veins: if the veins are noticeable under the skin, after prolonged standing or sitting, the legs hurt, you can distinguish pronounced spider veins on the legs and edema occurs in the evening;
- if a person leads a lifestyle in which he is forced to sit or stand a lot - in the office, driving a car, behind the counter, etc.
- Second class compression(23-32 mm Hg) - the most popular underwear. Compression stockings of 2nd class compression is used to treat varicose veins, thrombophlebitis. Hospital compression stockings are also used in the hospital.
- Third class of compression(34-46 mm Hg) - compression tights of this class are used for patients with trophic disorders and severe venous insufficiency.
- Fourth compression class(from 49 mm Hg) - this class is used very rarely - for men and women with lymphedema.
Before you buy socks or tights for varicose veins, you need to decide what kind of underwear is better to buy. Those who buy anti-varicose tights for the first time should not immediately choose 2nd class compression. In the end, it may be that this will be too much compression for the vascular system.
First, it is better to buy cheap underwear - the price of compression tights of 1st class from some companies will be quite reasonable. Once you wear it and gradually get used to such underwear, you can later buy more expensive orthopedic tights for varicose veins.
For prevention, only Class 1 underwear is used. If a person is already developing varicose veins, then a phlebologist will help you choose tights. You should also ask your doctor how to choose compression tights for pregnant women so that the expectant mother feels good when wearing such underwear. In this case, it is important to choose the size of the pantyhose or tights against expansion, so as not to cause noticeable discomfort.
But no matter how enthusiastic the reviews are about this or that underwear, you should understand that it will not work to cure varicose veins with its help, because wearing underwear does not eliminate the causes of the disease. Compression stockings help to stop the development of the disease and prevent the appearance of new varicose veins.
In hot summer it is impossible to wear such underwear, so in the summer you should use medicines for varicose veins and use other methods to combat this disease.
In order not to damage the product and get the greatest effect, you need to know how to properly put on compression tights - this is stated in the instructions.
No matter what the cost of such underwear, it can maintain compression for about 5-7 months.
What you need to know when buying compression socks?
Before buying such underwear, you need to know clearly how to choose the right compression stockings for varicose veins. Specific quality standards have been set for compression garments. The most important and strict among them is the European RAL-GZ-387.
Any manufacturer who wants to produce knitwear that suits him must first go through a very strict certification in Switzerland or Germany. Therefore, if elastic orthopedic socks for varicose veins have such a certificate, it shows its high quality. Knitwear with such a certificate provides pressure, which is distributed on the limb (40-70-100%) and is healing. The standard is proved by the packaging of the products, as well as by the presence of a special label.
To choose a good product, you need to focus not only on how much such pants or socks cost, but above all on the manufacturer and the proven place to sell the goods. In fact, in the domestic market it is very easy to make a mistake and buy fake medical socks or tights. In addition, in specialty stores, the buyer will definitely be asked how to determine the size for both men and women. You need to buy compression stockings for pregnant women in reliable stores.
Since medical underwear is worn daily, it is very important to choose a hypoallergenic model. Therefore, you need to focus not on consumer feedback, but on personal feelings in the first place. The Oeko-Tex Standard 10 mark of the European environmental standard must be present on the underwear - this ensures that the product is made of non-allergenic material.
How to wear compression socks properly?
When buying medical knitwear, you need to know how to wear and how to wear such underwear properly.
Most often, people who seek to prevent the progression of varicose veins wear class 2 compression stockings. After all, both the effectiveness and cost of class 2 compression stockings are often the most acceptable to the patient. However, it is often the case that 2nd degree compression products are very uncomfortable to carry. In addition, most often 2nd class compression for men and women is inconvenient precisely because a person does not wear such a product properly. After all, it can't be worn as tights for a child gathered in an accordion and pulling the sock up to the thigh. Both tights and tights or socks should be worn slowly, gradually rising above the feet.
Such underwear will be difficult to wear for full people. To facilitate this process, special tools can be purchased at the store. How much such devices cost depends on the manufacturer. The compression jersey should be worn with gloves so as not to damage the underwear with nails. In addition, if a person wears medical or other gloves, then the underwear slides better.
If the second class of compression underwear is uncomfortable to wear, in some cases you can limit yourself to the first class. In addition, the price of compression socks class 1 for women and men is lower. However, the cost of socks for varicose veins on the legs depends on other factors.
A person wearing a medical leotard should have smooth legs - no roughness, calluses. Shorten your toenails and file them to avoid swelling of the laundry.
It is better to wear such underwear in the morning, on rested and not swollen limbs. In this case, both legs and the T-shirts must be completely dry.
For those who are interested in whether it is possible to sleep in such socks, you should understand that there is no need for this, because during sleep the load on the limbs is minimal.
If the phlebologist has prescribed the patient to wear class 3 products, it will be more difficult to put them on and you will have to spend more time on it. For this it is better to use special devices.
If the size chart provided on a particular site seems vague, it is better to ask a specialist how to choose the size of compression stockings for surgery or for everyday wear. After all, if the size is chosen incorrectly, both wearing and wearing such underwear will be extremely uncomfortable.
It is important to take proper care of these items and know how to wash and dry them.
Compression clothing care
When buying orthopedic underwear for women and men, you should keep in mind that it is most convenient to have at least two pairs of such tights. After all, you need to wash it daily to get rid of dust, debris and dead skin particles that can very quickly damage the fibers of the laundry.
Washing is done only by hand, using baby soap. Such linen cannot be washed in a typewriter. You must wash at a temperature not exceeding 40 ° C. Ironing and bleaching is prohibited. Also, do not use conditioners and rinses. After all, they also destroy the structure of the shrinking tissue.
Dry the compression stockings by spreading them on a horizontal surface. You can't twist and squeeze it, you can easily get wet with a towel. Do not dry the jersey in the sun, battery in a vertical position.
You have to be very careful with the silicone tapes, which are important for fixing the laundry. During washing it is better not to wet them and wipe them with a disinfectant wipe.
What to wear with such products depends on the taste of the woman. But, as a rule, knitwear from modern manufacturers are very beautiful and elegant.
Contraindications to wearing compression underwear
Before choosing compression knee pads for varicose veins, you need to know clearly whether the patient has contraindications to wearing them. Medical tights have several such contraindications.
There are definite contraindications, as well as relative ones, in which it is allowed to wear such a leotard after consultation with doctors - cardiologist, dermatologist, endocrinologist.
Wearing medical tights is absolutely contraindicated for such diseases:
- atherosclerosis;
- endoarteritis;
- orthoarteritis;
- obliterating thromboangiitis.
Under such conditions, the lumen of the vessels decreases and systolic blood pressure drops to 80 mm. rt. Art. , therefore it is strictly forbidden to reduce the pressure in the lower extremities.
Compression garments should be worn very carefully for those who have skin problems and high skin sensitivity.
You should not wear socks or tights for allergic reactions and inflammatory processes on the skin, as well as for dermatitis, bedsores, eczema, thrombophlebitis, open wounds.
If varicose veins are the result of diabetes, such underwear should also not be used. Compression stockings are not used in case of septic phlebitis, severe heart failure, if circulatory problems occur at rest.
You can also find the opinion that jersey can provoke atrophy of the muscular layer of the walls of the veins. When a person stops wearing medical underwear, the opposite effect is likely, as a result of which the venous wall will stretch and varicose veins will progress even more.
Of course, there is no way to check the condition of every vein in a person wearing such underwear. However, most phlebologists consider this theory to be wrong, citing the following evidence in favor of this:
- one cannot wear a medical leotard around the clock;
- if the veins are compressed, then the blood flow in them decreases but does not stop;
- as a rule, atrophy of the muscle wall develops if a person has a genetic predisposition, as well as if a local specific inflammatory process with venous stasis develops and when using knitwear these phenomena are reduced;
- sometimes, after stopping the use of underwear, the person initially feels a little worse, because for some time the tone of the venous wall decreases, but we are not talking about atrophy.
Also, after the end of the period of wearing such underwear, people with varicose veins may feel that it has become more difficult for them to walk. That is why many people choose not to refuse to wear it.
Thus, compression garments, which have been used for many decades, are a convenient and effective method for the prevention and treatment of varicose veins. However, before you start using it, you should consult a phlebologist. The doctor will determine the patient's condition and help choose the most appropriate product.