Compression stockings are widely used to maintain the correct pressure, physiologically speaking, on a person's lower extremities. Such stockings 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 a medical undershirt. Also called compression or anti-varicose underwear, medical jersey.
It is recommended that phlebologists wear knee-high compression stockings, socks, and stockings for varicose veins. Such underwear should also be used for thrombosis, thrombophlebitis, lymphedema, and other problems with the blood vessels in the extremities.
What kind of compression underwear is, which is better - compression stockings or stockings, the doctor will tell and recommend during the appointment.
The therapeutic effect of wearing such underwear is manifested due to the fact that the stockings, leggings or stockings support the vessels and squeeze the dilated vein. This, in turn, evenly redistributes blood flow from dilated vessels to healthy ones.
Such underwear helps to activate blood circulation and improves tissue nutrition.
Choosing the right compression stockings can help reduce the risk of blood clots.
Another important argument in favor of wearing such underwear is that there are almost no contraindications to wearing 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 to keep the veins in a physiological state.
How does the compression garment for varicose veins work?
Previously, when medical knitwear was not produced, elastic bandages were used for varicose veins. However, its use has several important disadvantages.
- 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.
- A major disadvantage is the inability to wear an elastic bandage all the time. Non-aesthetic appearance does not allow to wear it every day, while, for example, compression underwear and knitwear from other modern manufacturers look very beautiful and aesthetically pleasing.
- Despite the low price of bandages, it will not be possible to save money by using them. After all, such a bandage becomes unusable very quickly. Therefore, 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? By compressing the dilated veins, this tissue speeds up blood flow through the deep veins. As a result, venous stasis, which is a prerequisite for the development of varicose veins, is removed. Those who are interested in which compression underwear is best for varicose veins should keep in mind that it is worth buying high-quality products. After all, high-quality branded knitwear provides a grad, that is, a gradual decrease 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 stockings that provide maximum pressure (100%) in the lower leg and partial pressure (40%) in the thigh area. It is this distribution that is the most correct from the physiological point of view, therefore, it provides the greatest therapeutic effect. With this mode of pressure distribution, the blood output is normalized due to the following effect:
- The function of the valve apparatus improves and returns to normal.
- It reduces the dilated lumen of the peripheral veins of the thighs and calves, especially the subcutaneous ones.
- The muscle pumping effect increases. When muscles contract during exercise, blood is pushed upward.
Effective compression underwear for pregnant women. But during pregnancy, you need to select such a T-shirt, guided by the individual recommendations of a doctor.
How to choose compression stockings?
Before choosing compression stockings for varicose veins, you need to clearly understand that such underwear cannot eliminate serious causes of venous insufficiency. Therefore, it is used before radical treatment. The medical t-shirt simulates the situation as if the veins have been expanded, removed or sealed.
Also, it is important to understand that non-surgical treatment of leg diseases should always be comprehensive. Only in this case will the effect be maximized. It is very important not only to wear compression underwear, but also to use ointments and creams prescribed by a doctor, to practice home remedies for the prevention and treatment of varicose veins, and also to lead a healthy lifestyle.
For the effect to be more noticeable, it is important to choose the right medical underwear. In this case, one should take into account not only the reviews that can be read on the net and the prices of clothes, but also their quality, compression classes.
Compression stockings are generally divided into three types:
- hospital, that is, one that is used exclusively in a hospital;
- doctor;
- prophylactic.
But regardless of whether the shirt is necessary for treatment or prevention, it must be purchased exclusively in specialized stores or outlets that are official distributors of manufacturers of such underwear recognized by doctors. It is important that these stores help consumers to choose the appropriate size for the shirt, since the effectiveness of the treatment depends on this. To find the perfect underwear, the seller first measures the leg in four places. Next, a special size chart is used, according to which the stockings or tights are selected.
You can buy underwear in four degrees of compression:
- First-class compression(18-21 mm Hg) - preventive jersey, whose use is indicated in the following cases:
- During pregnancy;
- with a tendency to varicose veins;
- in the presence of the initial symptoms of varicose veins: if the veins are noticeable under the skin, after standing or sitting for a long time, the legs hurt, you can distinguish pronounced spider veins on the legs, and edema appears from the night;
- if a person leads a lifestyle in which he is forced to sit or stand a lot: in the office, driving a car, behind a counter, etc.
- Second compression class(23-32 mm Hg) - the most popular underwear. Compression stockings of the second compression class are used for the treatment of varicose veins, thrombophlebitis. The hospital also uses hospital compression class 2 knitwear.
- Third compression class(34-46 mm Hg): Compression stockings 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 lymphatic edema.
Before buying tights or leggings for varicose veins, you need to decide exactly what kind of underwear is better to buy. Those who buy anti-varicose tights for the first time should not immediately choose the second kind of compression. After all, it is quite possible that this is too strong a compression on the vascular system.
First, it is better to buy cheap underwear - the price of first-class compression stockings from some companies will be quite acceptable. After wearing it and gradually getting used to such underwear, then you can buy more expensive orthopedic stockings for varicose veins.
For prevention purposes, only class 1 underwear is worn. If a person is already developing varicose veins, a phlebologist will help him choose tights. He should also ask his doctor how to choose compression stockings for pregnant women so that the expectant mother feels good about wearing such underwear. In this case, it is important to choose the size of varicose pantyhose or stockings so that they do not cause noticeable discomfort.
But no matter how enthusiastic the reviews about this or that underwear are, you need to understand that it will not work to cure varicose veins with their help, since wearing underwear does not eliminate the causes of the disease. Compression stockings help stop the development of the disease and prevent the appearance of new varicose veins.
In hot summer weather, it is impossible to wear such underwear, therefore, during the summer, you need to use drugs for varicose veins and use other methods to combat this disease.
In order not to damage the product and to obtain the greatest effect, you need to know how to put on compression stockings correctly, this is indicated in the instructions.
Regardless of the price of such clothing, you can maintain compression for about 5-7 months.
What do you need to know when buying compression stockings?
Before buying such underwear, you need to clearly know how to choose the right compression stockings for varicose veins. Specific quality standards have been defined for compression garments. The most important and strict of them is the European RAL-GZ-387.
Any manufacturer wishing to produce matching knitwear must initially go through very strict certification in Switzerland or Germany. Therefore, if the elastic orthopedic stockings for varicose veins have such a certificate, this indicates their high quality. Knitwear with this certificate provides pressure that is distributed over the limb (40-70-100%) and is curative. The standard is evidenced in the packaging of the products, as well as in the presence of a special label.
In order to choose a good product, you need to focus not only on how much such knee-highs or stockings cost, but, first of all, on the manufacturer and the proven point of sale of the products. In fact, in the domestic market it is very easy to make mistakes and buy fake medical tights or tights. Also, in specialized stores, the buyer will definitely be asked how to determine the size, for both men and women. In trusted stores, you need to buy compression stockings for pregnant women.
Since medical underwear is worn on a daily basis, it is very important to choose a hypoallergenic model. Therefore, you should focus not on the opinions of users, but, first of all, on personal feelings. The Oeko-Tex Standard 10 sign of the European standard of respect for the environment must be present on the clothing, which guarantees that the product is made of a hypoallergenic material.
How to put on compression stockings correctly?
When buying medicated tops, you need to know how to put on and how to properly wear such underwear.
Very often, people looking to prevent the progression of varicose veins wear class 2 compression stockings. After all, both the efficiency and the price of class 2 compression stockings are often the most acceptable to the patient. . However, it often happens that second degree compression products are very uncomfortable for a person. In addition, most often, the second class of compression for men and women turns out to be inconvenient precisely because a person does not use such a product correctly. After all, it can not be worn as tights for a child, collected in an accordion and pulling the stocking up to the thigh. Both pantyhose and knee-highs or stockings should be put on slowly, gradually straightening them over the leg.
Such underwear will be difficult for obese people to wear. To facilitate this process, you can buy special tools in the store. The cost of such devices depends on the manufacturer. Compression knitwear should be worn with gloves so as not to damage the clothes with nails. Also, if a person wears medical or other gloves, the clothing will slide better.
If the underwear of the second compression class is uncomfortable to wear, in some cases it may be limited to the first class. Also, the price of class 1 compression stockings for women and men is lower. However, the price of stockings for varicose veins on the legs depends on other factors.
A person wearing a medical shirt should have smooth feet, without roughness or calluses. Trim your toenails and clean them to prevent your clothes from getting dirty.
It is better to put on such underwear in the morning, with the limbs rested and, consequently, not swollen. In this case, both the legs and the jerseys must be completely dry.
For those who are interested in whether it is possible to sleep in such stockings, they should understand that it is not necessary, since during sleep the load on the limbs is minimal.
If the phlebologist prescribed the patient to use class 3 products, it will be more difficult to put them on and consequently more time will have to be spent on this. For this, it is better to use special devices.
If the size chart provided on a particular site seems unclear, it is best 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, then both putting on and wearing such underwear will be extremely inconvenient.
It is important to take proper care of these items and to know how to wash and dry them.
Compression garment care
When buying orthopedic underwear for women and men, you should take into account that it is more convenient to have at least two pairs of such a top. After all, you need to wash it every day to remove dust, debris, and dead skin particles, which can very quickly damage the fibers of your clothing.
Washing is done by hand only, using baby soap. Such clothes cannot be washed in a typewriter. It should be washed at a temperature not exceeding 40 ° C. Ironing and bleaching are prohibited. Also, don't use conditioners or rinses. After all, they also destroy the structure of the constricting tissue.
Dry the compression stockings by laying them out on a horizontal surface. You can't twist it and wring it out, it can easily get wet with a towel. It is not allowed to dry the jersey in the sun, battery in an upright position.
You have to be very careful with the silicone strips, which are important to fix the clothes. During washing, it is better not to get them wet and wipe them with a disinfectant napkin.
What to wear with such products depends on the taste of the woman. But, as a rule, knitwear from modern manufacturers is very beautiful and stylish.
Contraindications to wearing compression underwear.
Before choosing compression stockings for varicose veins, you should clearly know whether the patient has contraindications to wearing them. The medical t-shirt has several contraindications.
There are categorical, as well as relative contraindications, in which it is allowed to wear such a T-shirt after consulting with doctors: a cardiologist, dermatologist, endocrinologist.
The use of a medical T-shirt is absolutely contraindicated for such diseases:
- atherosclerosis;
- endoarteritis;
- orthoarteritis;
- obliterating thromboangitis.
In such conditions, the lumen of the vessels decreases and the systolic blood pressure drops to 80 mm. rt. Art. , Therefore, it is strictly forbidden to reduce the pressure on the lower extremities.
Compression garments should be used with great care for those who have skin problems and high skin sensitivity.
Stockings or tights should not be used for allergic manifestations and inflammatory processes on the skin, as well as for dermatitis, decubitus ulcers, eczema, thrombophlebitis, open wounds.
If varicose veins manifest themselves as a result of diabetes, such underwear should also not be worn. Compression stockings are not used in the case of septic phlebitis, severe cardiopulmonary insufficiency, if circulatory problems manifest themselves at rest.
You may also find the opinion that the pullover can lead to atrophy of the muscle layer of the walls of the veins. When a person stops wearing medical underwear, the opposite effect is likely to occur, as a result of which the vein wall will stretch and the varicose veins will progress further.
Of course, there is no way to check the status of each vein in a person wearing such underwear. However, most phlebologists consider this theory to be wrong, citing the following evidence in favor of this:
- a person cannot wear a medical jersey 24 hours a day;
- if the veins are compressed, the flow of blood in them decreases, but does not stop;
- as a rule, muscle wall atrophy develops if a person has a genetic disposition, as well as if a specific local inflammatory process with venous stasis develops, and when wearing knitwear, these phenomena decrease;
- sometimes, after stopping wearing white clothes, initially a person feels a little worse, since for a while 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 find it more difficult to walk. Therefore, many people choose not to stop using it.
Therefore, 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 with a phlebologist. The doctor will determine the patient's condition and help to choose the most suitable product.