The anti-varicose sweatshirt is designed to normalize the circulatory system of the lower extremities. The pressure underwear exerts precise design pressure on certain areas of the vein. Since its location is far from the heart, there is a risk of pathological venous diseases. Therefore, as a result of wearing medical underwear, the blood flow condition is improved, and the pain, swelling and heaviness of the legs are eliminated. Therefore, if you are at risk of developing varicose veins, you have already encountered it, or you show signs of impaired venous circulation (due to static load, pregnancy, sedentary lifestyle), you should start using prevention in daily wearSexual pressure underwear.
Varicose vein compression underwear
Earlier, for this purpose, the phlebologist prescribed an elastic bandage. This kind of tool is not popular now, because there are many obvious shortcomings: it is difficult to bandage, the degree of compression is uneven, the appearance is not beautiful, and the compression performance is quickly lost, so it will slip.
The difference of modern compression underwear is completely opposite to the above shortcomings:
- Easy to use (compared to bandages), from putting on, putting on and taking off the linen;
- 4 compression levels-allows individual selection of linen with the compression level required to expand the vein;
- Made of high-tech materials: linen-made of highly elastic hypoallergenic natural cotton; socks made of synthetic fibers-nylon, lycra, elastic fiber, microfiber, can be worn in skirts and dresses;
- Close fit will not let the clothes slip off;
- Linen has a long service life and is properly maintained-from 5 to 12 months (daily wear).
What is the use of compression underwear? The tights generate distributed pressure from the bottom to the top of the leg. The graded pressure of different intensities varies from ankle to thigh. In percentage, this is 100% to 20% of the compression of the underwear.
Expert advice
The gradual decrease in the compression percentage is physiologically reasonable: as the blood flow increases, the load on the venous system decreases. Therefore, it is recommended to lower the maximum pressure upwards. Due to this principle of action, wearing pressure underwear will stimulate blood and lymph to flow into the heart and normalize it, thereby preventing venous congestion.
Types of compression underwear
How to choose compression underwear for varicose veins, and what are the types of sweaters used for?
The medical industry provides a wide range of compression underwear. There are compression stockings for women and underwear for men with varicose veins. According to the treatment tasks assigned to the pressure garment, there is another classification:
- Preventive underwear: minimize the pressure on the lower limbs to eliminate high blood pressure;
- Medical linen: used to treat medium and maximum compression of varicose veins;
- Postoperative underwear: used in the hospital, the selection of compression stockings is carried out by the doctor.
Directly dependent on the existing or possible location of the lower body venous disease, you can choose a certain type of medical underwear-pressure tights, knee socks or stockings.
Compression socks
Socks are mainly recommended for athletes with increased running load for preventive purposes. Wearing compression stockings will reduce the risk of venous diseases and help those who have experienced these diseases. During the use of compression stockings, due to the point-directed compression of the heel and foot area, the blood circulation of the foot is improved and the muscle tension increases. This type of clothing can be used during and after long periods of exercise.
Compression up to the knee
Socks are suitable for the prevention and treatment of varicose veins, provided that the varicose veins are below the knee. Knee-to-the-knee covers the legs from foot to knee. Their elastic compression properties ensure a precise fit to the foot, maintain ankle tension, and effectively prevent the foot from being heavy.
How do men choose to compress knees? More tights seem to be aimed at women. This is an illusion. In terms of design, men's knee-length socks are almost the same as ordinary socks, so there should be no restrictions during wearing.
The size of this tights, for example knee-length, is selected based on the anatomical contours of the lower limbs.
To do this, you need to make some measurements (in centimeters):
- The circumference of the tibia above the ankle and below the knee;
- Length from foot to knee.
Compression stockings
With the help of stockings, it can achieve therapeutic and preventive effects in combating pathologies of the venous system. Varicose stockings with increased length are sometimes used due to need: up to the groin area or using fasteners at the waist.
The inner side of the socks has silicone elasticity. It can prevent this compression socks from slipping off. Medical stockings with fasteners on the waist are fixed with elastic bands with contact belts. Such stockings are divided into half pairs, left and right. It is possible to combine single stockings into tights.
This kind of stockings, as a special compression underwear for the legs of varicose veins, has the greatest effect.
Finding the best compression stockings for women and men is not as difficult as it might seem at first glance. This kind of underwear has a wide range in the medical market. It takes into account the economic possibilities and preference for the appearance of linen. Therefore, you can buy elastic stockings according to your wishes, not just follow the doctor's advice on the therapeutic and preventive properties of linen. When buying, it is important to remember that plastic surgery salons or pharmacies that sell pressure underwear can protect you from buying fakes. Only there can you buy certified high-quality compression products.
Women's compression tights
The most common type of medical and preventive underwear for women is leggings, although they are difficult to wear.
According to the important effects achieved, the following types of compression tights can be distinguished: preventive and therapeutic. The preventive elastic tights are independently selected according to parameters such as height and weight. You can buy these compression stockings in pharmacies and regular medical supply stores. In addition to improving the venous system, they have a correction and slimming effect on the waist, hips and thighs.
Expert advice
If you can choose preventive compression products yourself, then medical compression stockings are exclusively selected by the doctor. According to RAL-standard-GZ 387, such tights, stockings and socks must pass mandatory medical certification and are only available in medical equipment salons and pharmacies.
The lineup includes compression tights with different textures and colors. They are the most transparent and densest opaque substances that can hide the appearance of veins on the skin. When choosing a style, pay attention to socks: products with toe opening and closing.
It is recommended to use medical compression stockings for varicose veins in combination with local intravenous injections for the legs. A foot cream containing horse chestnut and ginkgo biloba extract is suitable for daily care at home. Due to its natural ingredients, it can relieve pain, regulate skin tone, and has anti-inflammatory and cosmetic effects. 1-2 times a day, before putting on the tights in the morning and after taking off the tights at night, apply the cream on the skin of the legs from the bottom up, and massage until it is completely absorbed. After clinical research, the cream is highly evaluated by phlebologists as an effective adjuvant against varicose veins of the lower extremities. When used outside at home, the foot tonic spray containing butcher and witch hazel extract is very convenient. Due to its light weight, non-marking formula and comfortable release form, it can be applied to nylon compression leggings. Spray 1-2 times a day from a distance of 15 cm to gently moisturize the skin. Both products are developed by experts from a pharmaceutical company and have the necessary documents and quality certificates.
Compression elastic underwear-tights, stockings and knee-length pants, you need to put on hard. It is important to observe the following rules:
- Lie down after getting up;
- Do not over-stretch or distort the product;
- Gather the top of the leggings, and then gradually straighten it toward the calf and above.
In order to facilitate the procedure of putting on compression stockings, we have produced special devices for different categories of consumers: overweight, impaired, and travelers (foldable design).
How to choose elastic stockings?
When the question of how to choose compression socks arises, considering the size, you need to read the information on the packaging.
Compression garments are manufactured in strict accordance with quality standards. The most stringent is the European standard RAL-GZ 387. Its specification stipulates:
- Compression underwear composition;
- The safety of the materials used;
- Compression, elasticity and strength characteristics of the manufactured linen;
- Labeling requirements on the packaging.
According to these standards, on the packaging of quality-certified linens, the compression level and pressure should be measured in millimeters of mercury instead of denominations (the same as ordinary stockings).
If Oko-Tex® Standard 100 is engraved on the packaging of the linen product, it means that this tights has been tested by an independent organization in the international Oeko-Tex community. They check the fabric samples for pH compliance, formaldehyde content, chlorine-containing substances, and possible heavy metals. Based on the results of the successful inspection, a quality certificate-Oko-Tex® Standard 100 is issued.
By purchasing underwear with the above marks, you can be sure that it is:
- Will enable you to achieve the appropriate therapeutic effect;
- Environmental friendly;
- Will not be less than the service life specified by the manufacturer.
Elastic compression socks: compression grades for all garments
According to the degree of pressure generated by medical elastic knitted fabrics, it is divided into 4 compression levels in accordance with the RAL-GZ 387 standard.
- Compression level I: with low (light) preventive pressure (18-21 mmHg). The indications for wearing class I compression underwear are: tendency to varicose veins, heavy legs, edema, spider veins, pregnancy.
- Compression class II: with moderate pressure (22-32 mmHg). This is the most commonly used compression level for medical clothing. It is used to prevent and treat deep vein thrombosis, treat varicose veins and acute thrombophlebitis (Thrombophlebitis).
- Compression level III: Apply strong pressure (33-46 mmHg). This linen is used for severe lymphatic venous insufficiency, nutritional disease, and deep vein thrombosis.
- Compression level IV: Apply the highest possible pressure (more than 59 mmHg). Underwear with such compression is used to treat congenital venous abnormalities and eliminate lymphedema accompanying edema.
The first compression level of preventive underwear can be purchased separately. But how to choose medical compression underwear with varicose veins can only be told by a doctor. He will explain why you need tights in your particular situation.
Compression stockings: how to choose a size
Varicose veins are an irreversible disease that requires treatment. And compression stockings will be used for veins as a support frame. Accurate measurement of leg size helps to choose the right stockings, namely:
- Length from foot to knee;
- The circumference of the tibia above the ankle and below the knee;
- The thigh circumference is 25-30 cm from the knee;
- The legs are long from the feet to the groin folds.
It is important to determine the size of the stockings after the phlebologist prescribes and measures the appropriate compression grade linen. This range includes a large number of sizes from XS to XLX. The size grid may vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. Therefore, the selection of compression garments must be made according to the size chart of a specific manufacturer.
The correctly selected stockings will fit your legs tightly. It may be uncomfortable to wear medical underwear at the beginning, but it will pass after a long time.
How to choose leggings?
Choose tights, in addition to the above measurements, but also to measure the volume of hip and waist.
Many manufacturers produce pressure suits. And there are varicose veins, I want to know which one is better than others, so as not to waste precious time and money. Unfortunately, the best compression stockings for varicose veins can only be chosen based on how you feel when you wear this underwear directly.
The feature of leggings is to choose strictly according to the size, because they will produce the largest area of pressure.
In most cases, the packaging contains information on how to wear tights. Don't ignore these suggestions-they will extend the life of the linen:
- Wear tights after getting up or showering. Important: The skin must be completely dry.
- It is necessary to monitor the condition of the skin-it must be moisturized and smooth so as not to damage the fibers of the compression underwear.
- Do not stretch or twist the compression tights.
- When putting it on, gather the upper part of the leggings into an accordion, and gradually distribute them along the length of the leg to straighten the wrinkles that appear.
Compression tights should be worn throughout the day and taken off before going to bed. The duration of clothing use is only determined by the doctor.
Postoperative compression stockings
The hospital jersey after surgery is irreplaceable. During the postoperative period of the treatment of varicose veins, a good pressure underwear can relieve some possible complications. Wearing a hospital gown can reduce the risk of congestion and deep vein thrombosis.
The optimal compression pressure for this type of underwear is 15-18 mmHg.
The calculation of the compression of the recovery underwear takes into account that the patient will be in a horizontal position. Therefore, this type of underwear is not suitable for daily compression socks.
The postoperative compression garment can be matched with any part of the body. The following types of linen can be distinguished:
- Knee-length, leggings;
- Spine tights;
- bandage.
A distinctive feature of postoperative compression garments is that they must be worn (not taken off) for the first few days. Therefore, hospital underwear should have high elasticity, seamlessness, hypoallergenic and antibacterial effects.
Ladies compression underwear
Basically, under the women's compression hospital linen, it is customary to understand beauty socks. After being used for plastic surgery, it greatly facilitates and shortens the recovery period. The most common type of underwear is a corset after mammoplasty (Mammoplastica). During the recovery period after surgery to correct the shape of the breasts, it is important to wear fixed compression underwear, which:
- Prevent scars;
- Help relieve postoperative swelling;
- Relieve pain
- Reduce the heaviness of the surgical site.
The compression level required for the corset is adjusted by the fastener. Sometimes, along with compression corsets, additional compression belts are used to create maximum compression with postoperative underwear on necessary parts of the body.
The choice of women's compression garments and how to wear them for a long time are determined by the doctor. Choosing the wrong underwear can harm your body.
Compression underwear for pregnant women
During pregnancy, due to increased body load, symptoms of various diseases may be manifested. The same goes for varicose veins. In order to protect themselves from such manifestations, it is recommended that many pregnant women wear preventive and therapeutic stress underwear.
In the first trimester, use preventive compression stockings, mainly knee-length socks or stockings, which will also protect women from the syndrome of heaviness and swelling of the legs.
During pregnancy, wearing a brace can reduce the pressure on the spine.
From the second trimester, medical linen is prescribed if there are instructions: bandages, tights, stockings. After childbirth, this type of medical linen will help you recover faster. Generally, the function of a bandage is assigned to a highly elastic insert that compresses the front of the tights. It takes into account the anatomical characteristics of pregnant women. This kind of underwear supports the stomach well and does not squeeze it. However, this kind of sweatshirt may have contraindications to wearing, so it is recommended to consult your doctor before buying medicinal underwear.
For pregnant women with varicose veins, phlebologists recommend the use of compression stockings during and shortly after delivery.