Compression stockings are widely used to maintain the correct pressure, physiologically speaking, in a person's lower limbs. These stockings are used in the complex treatment of varicose veins, as well as for the prevention of this disease. In medicine, special underwear for the veins is called medical jersey. It is also called compression or anti-varicose underwear, medical jersey.
Tights, socks, as well as compression knee-highs for varicose veins are recommended by phlebologists. Such underwear should also be worn for thrombosis, thrombophlebitis, lymphedema and other problems with the blood vessels of the extremities.
What type of compression underwear is best - compression tights or stockings, the doctor will tell and recommend at the appointment.
The therapeutic effect when using such underwear is manifested by the fact that stockings, leggings or tights support the vessels, tighten the dilated vein. This, in turn, evenly redistributes blood flow 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 is almost no contraindication 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 to keep the veins in a physiological state.
How does the compression garment work for varicose veins?
Previously, when medical knitwear was not produced, elastic bandages were used for varicose veins. However, their use has several significant drawbacks.
- First of all, elastic bandages should be applied for a long time, and in order to achieve the desired effect, it should be done correctly.
- A significant drawback is the inability to wear an elastic bandage all the time. The non-aesthetic 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 aesthetic.
- Despite the fact that the bandages have a low price, it will not be possible to save money by wearing them. After all, such a bandage very quickly becomes unusable. Therefore, it is better to learn how to choose high-quality knitwear and buy compression underwear for varicose veins.
What are compression underwear used for and what is their effect? By compressing the dilated veins, this knitted fabric speeds up blood flow in the deep veins. As a result, venous stasis is eliminated, which is a prerequisite for the development of varicose veins. Those interested in the best suitable compression underwear for varicose veins should take into account that it is worth buying high-quality products. After all, high-quality branded knitwear offers a gradual decrease, 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 of compression underwear for varicose veins has stockings that provide maximum (100%) pressure in the lower leg and partial (40%) in the thigh area. It is this distribution which is the most correct from a physiological point of view, therefore, provides the greatest therapeutic effect. With this mode of pressure distribution, blood flow is normalized due to the following effect:
- The work 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 veins, decreases.
- The muscle pump effect is increased. When muscles contract during exercise, blood is pushed upwards.
Effective compression underwear for pregnant women. But during pregnancy, you need to select such a jersey, guided by the individual recommendations of a doctor.
How to choose compression stockings?
Before choosing compression stockings for varicose veins, you should understand that such underwear can not eliminate the serious causes of venous insufficiency. Therefore, it is used before radical treatment. The medical jersey simulates the situation as if the veins have dilated, removed or sealed.
In addition, it is important to understand that the non-surgical treatment of diseases of the legs 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 folk remedies for the prevention and treatment of varicose veins, and also to lead a lifehealthy.
In order for the effect to be most noticeable, it is important to choose the right medical underwear. In this case, it is necessary to take into account not only the reviews that can be read on the network and the prices of linen, but also its quality, compression classes.
Compression stockings are generally divided into three types:
- hospital - that is, used exclusively in a hospital;
- medical;
- prophylactic.
But, whether the swimsuit is necessary for treatment or for prevention, it should be purchased exclusively from specialist stores or from outlets that are official resellers of underwear manufacturers recognized by doctors. It is important that in such stores consumers are helped in choosing the right size of bikini line, because the effectiveness of the treatment depends on it. To find the perfect underwear, the salesperson first measures the leg in four places. Then a special size chart is used, depending on the selected stockings or tights.
You can buy underwear with four degrees of compression:
- First-class compression(18-21 mm Hg) - preventive swimsuit, the wearing of which is indicated in the following cases:
- during pregnancy;
- with a tendency to varicose veins;
- in the presence of the first 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 appears in the evening;
- whether a person leads a life in which they are forced to sit or stand a lot - in the office, behind the wheel of a car, behind a counter, etc.
- Second compression class(23-32 mm Hg) - the most popular underwear. Compression stockings of the 2nd compression class are used for the treatment of varicose veins, thrombophlebitis. The hospital also uses compression class 2 hospital knits.
- Third compression class(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 lymphatic edema.
Before you buy stockings or tights for varicose veins, you need to decide exactly what type of underwear is better to buy. Those who buy anti-varicose veins pantyhose for the first time should not immediately choose the 2nd class of compression. After all, it may well be too much compression for the vascular system.
First of all, it is better to buy inexpensive underwear - the price of first-class compression tights from some companies will be quite acceptable. After wearing it and gradually getting used to such underwear, later you can buy more expensive orthopedic pantyhose for varicose veins.
For prevention purposes, only class 1 underwear is used. If a person already develops varicose veins, a phlebologist will help you choose pantyhose. 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 anti-varicose vein pantyhose or stockings so that they do not cause noticeable discomfort.
But no matter how enthusiastic the reviews of this or that underwear are, 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 stop disease development and prevent new varicose veins from appearing.
In hot summer weather, it is impossible to wear such underwear. Therefore, in 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 achieve the best effect, you need to know how to put on compression tights correctly - this is indicated in the instructions.
Regardless of the price of such a laundry, it can retain compression for about 5-7 months.
What should you know when buying compression stockings?
Before buying such underwear, you should 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 the strictest of these is the European RAL-GZ-387.
Any manufacturer seeking to produce knitwear that suits them must first go through very strict certification in Switzerland or Germany. Therefore, if elastic orthopedic stockings for varicose veins have such a certificate, it indicates its high quality. Knitwear with such a certificate provides distributed pressure on the limb (40-70-100%) and is healing. The standard is evidenced 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 the cost of those knee socks or socks, but on the manufacturer and the proven point of sale of the products first. Indeed, in the domestic market, it is very easy to go wrong and buy fake medical stockings or tights. In addition, in specialized stores, the buyer will certainly be asked to determine the size, both for men and for women. In trusted stores you need to buy compression stockings for pregnant women.
Since medical underwear is worn daily, it is very important to choose a hypoallergenic model. Therefore, you should not focus on user reviews, but first and foremost on personal feelings. The Oeko-Tex Standard 10 sign of the European environmental standard must be present on the laundry - this ensures that the product is made from a non-allergenic material.
How to put on the compression stockings correctly?
When buying medicated undershirts, you need to know how to put on and properly wear such underwear.
Most often, people seeking to prevent the progression of varicose veins wear Class 2 compression stockings. After all, the effectiveness and price of Compression Class 2 compression stockings are often the most acceptable to the patient. However, it often happens that products of the 2nd degree of compression are very uncomfortable for a person to wear. In addition, most often the 2nd class of compression for men and women turns out to be inconvenient precisely because a person does not wear such a product correctly. After all, they can't be worn like children's tights, gathered like an accordion and pulled up to the thigh. Tights, knee-highs or stockings should be put on slowly, gradually lifting them up the leg.
Such underwear will be difficult for obese people to wear. To facilitate this process, special tools can be purchased at the store. The cost of these devices depends on the manufacturer. Compression knits should be worn with gloves so as not to damage the laundry with nails. Also, if a person is wearing medical or other gloves, the laundry will slide 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 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 who wears a medical suit should have smooth feet - no roughness, no calluses. Cut your nails short and file them to avoid puffs on your laundry.
It is better to put on such underwear in the morning, on rested and, therefore, not swollen limbs. In this case, the legs and the swimsuits should be completely dry.
For those who want to know whether it is possible to sleep in such stockings, you should understand that this is not necessary, since 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, therefore, more time will have to be spent on them. 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 incorrectly chosen, it will be extremely inconvenient to put on and wear such underwear.
It is important to take care of these items and know how to wash and dry them.
Maintenance of compression garments
When buying orthopedic underwear for women and men, you should consider that it is more practical to have at least two pairs of this jersey. After all, you need to wash it daily to get rid of dust, debris and dead skin particles, which can damage the fibers of the laundry very quickly.
Washing is carried out only by hand, using baby soap. Such laundry cannot be washed with a typewriter. You should wash at a temperature not exceeding 40 ° C. It is forbidden to iron and bleach it. Also, do not use conditioners and rinses. After all, they also destroy the structure of the constricting tissue.
Dry the compression stocking by spreading it out on a horizontal surface. You can't wring it out and wring it out, you can easily get wet with a towel. Drying the jersey in the sun, the battery in an upright position is not allowed.
You have to be very careful with the silicone bands, which are important for securing the laundry. When washing, it is better not to wet them and wipe them with a disinfectant towel.
What to wear with such products depends on the taste of the woman. But, as a rule, knits from modern manufacturers look very beautiful and stylish.
Contraindications to wearing compression underwear
Before choosing compression knee-highs for varicose veins, you should clearly know if the patient has any contraindications to wearing them. The medical jersey has several of these contraindications.
There are categorical contraindications, as well as relative contraindications, in which it is allowed to wear such a jersey after consulting with doctors - a cardiologist, a dermatologist, an endocrinologist.
Wearing a medical jersey is absolutely contraindicated for such diseases:
- atherosclerosis;
- endoarteritis;
- orthoarteritis;
- thromboangiitis obliterans.
Under such conditions, the lumen of the vessels decreases, and systolic blood pressure falls 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 with skin problems and high skin sensitivity.
You should not wear stockings or tights for allergic manifestations and inflammatory processes of the skin, as well as dermatitis, bedsores, eczema, thrombophlebitis, open wounds.
If varicose veins develop as a result of diabetes, these underwear should also not be used. Compression stockings are not used in cases of septic phlebitis, severe cardiopulmonary insufficiency, if circulatory disorders occur at rest.
You may also find the opinion that the jersey can cause atrophy of the muscle 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 flawed, citing the following evidence in favor of it:
- a person cannot wear a medical shirt 24 hours a day;
- if the veins are compressed, the blood flow in them decreases, but it does not stop;
- as a rule, atrophy of the muscle wall develops if a person has a genetic disposition, as well as if a specific local inflammatory process develops with venous stasis, and when using knits, these phenomena decrease;
- sometimes, after stopping using linen, a person initially feels a little worse, because for a while the tone of the venous wall decreases, but we are not talking about atrophy.
In addition, 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. Therefore, many people choose not to give up wearing it.
So, compression garments, which have been used for many decades, are a practical and effective method for the prevention and treatment of varicose veins. However, before you start using it, you need to consult a phlebologist. The doctor will determine the patient's condition and help him choose the most suitable product.