To maintain physiologically correct pressure in the lower extremities, in complex therapy and prevention of varicose veins, compression hosiery is widely used today.
In the medical literature, such special underwear is also called medical hosiery, anti-varicose, compression underwear or medical compression hosiery.
These are hosiery, which are recommended by phlebologists as a treatment and prevention of various problems of the blood vessels of the legs. Compression underwear is mainly used for varicose veins, thrombosis, epithelializing trophic ulcers, thrombophlebitis, lymphedema.
- The therapeutic effect of compression underwear is due to the effect of supporting, squeezing the dilated vein, which contributes to the redistribution of the blood flow from altered, dilated veins to healthy ones.
- It improves tissue nutrition, increases blood circulation
- The most important thing is that such jersey, when used correctly and correctly sized, reduces the risk of blood clots.
- And what is also important, in the absence of contraindications of compression underwear to its use, there are no side effects, this is a safe and simple method of preventing varicose veins, maintaining veins in a natural, physiological state.
The therapeutic effect of compression tights for varicose veins?
Earlier, before the large-scale production of high-quality medical linen, elastic bandages were widely used, the use of which has a number of disadvantages:
- firstly, they should be applied very correctly every time, which does not always work out, and takes a lot of time
- secondly, the appearance of the bandages does not allow them to be worn, for example, to work
- thirdly, the low price for them turns out to be deceptive, since the bandages very quickly deteriorate, which negates all the savings.
What is the effect of using medical medical jersey? When squeezing the dilated veins, compression garments for varicose veins accelerate blood flow through the deep veins, thereby eliminating venous congestion. Moreover, high-quality modern compression hosiery provides a graduated, that is, a gradual decrease in pressure from the lower leg to the thigh, or from the hand to the shoulder.
For example, in the lower part of the leg, the pressure created by compression stockings or tights is maximum 100%, and in the upper part of the thigh it is 40%. This is the most expedient and physiologically determined change in pressure, which has a therapeutic effect. This mode of distribution of pressure on the veins stimulates and normalizes upward blood flow due to:
- improvement and normalization of the valve apparatus
- reduction of the enlarged lumen of peripheral, especially saphenous veins of the thighs and lower legs
- increasing the effect of the muscle pump - when the muscles contract from physical exertion, the blood is pushed up.
However, it should be remembered that treatment with compression underwear for varicose veins does not eliminate the deep causes of venous insufficiency, and it is used before radical, surgical treatment. This jersey mimics the situation - that the enlarged veins are sealed or removed.
In addition, non-surgical conservative treatment of leg diseases should be comprehensive. The maximum effect can be obtained if you use creams and ointments recommended by your doctor, lead a healthy lifestyle, wear compression socks or tights every day, and also use folk remedies to treat varicose veins.
Contraindications for the use of compression hosiery
As with any treatment, each remedy or medicine has a number of contraindications, and medical medical jersey is no exception. Some people categorically should not use compression garments, others should use it with caution after a thorough diagnosis and consultation with a doctor. If there are relative contraindications, you should consult a dermatologist, cardiologist, endocrinologist.
- Such underwear is absolutely contraindicated for atherosclerosis, thromboangiitis obliterans, endoarteritis, orthoarteritis. With such chronic diseases of the arteries of the legs, leading to a decrease in the lumen of the vessels and systolic blood pressure less than 80 mm. rt. Art. it is categorically impossible to reduce the pressure in the lower extremities with the help of medical jersey.
- Medical knitwear should be used with caution by people with overly sensitive skin.
- It is not advisable to use compression underwear for inflammatory skin diseases, allergic skin reactions, various dermatitis, bedsores, open wounds, acute thrombophlebitis and eczema.
- Diabetes mellitus is a relative contraindication, since in case of damage to the vessels of the legs due to diabetes, such underwear should also not be used.
- With septic phlebitis and severe cardiopulmonary failure, when circulatory disorders occur at rest, compression hosiery should also not be used.
Many are afraid to start wearing compression underwear due to the fact that there is an opinion that jersey provokes the development of atrophy of the muscular layer of the vein walls, and when their use is stopped, the opposite negative effect may occur - when the venous wall cannot resist the blood pressure in the lumen of the vessel. Therefore, due to atrophy of the vein walls, existing varicose veins will progress even more.
Unfortunately, it is impossible to conduct clinical studies on every vein subject to compression, but phlebologists believe that this opinion is erroneous, since:
- The patient cannot wear compression garments around the clock
- In the veins subject to compression, the blood flow decreases, rather than stops altogether.
- Atrophy of the muscle wall most often occurs with a genetic disposition and a local specific inflammatory process with venous stasis and vein filling. And all this is reduced when using jersey.
- This can only happen according to the initial sensations of the patients when the use of linen is stopped. In this case, a temporary deterioration in the condition and well-being occurs for some time, which is explained not by atrophy and progression of varicose veins, but by a temporary decrease in the tone of the venous wall.
- Reviews and feelings of patients at the end of the use of compression underwear with varicose veins - it is difficult for most to get used to starting to walk after using compression hosiery. Many argue that when using a medical product, the legs become, as it were, light and many do not want to give up their use anymore.
How to choose compression garments
Medical compression underwear, jersey are divided into: hospital, which is used only in hospitals, prophylactic and therapeutic. We will consider in detail the compression classes of medical anti-varicose compression hosiery, how to choose compression underwear, how to wear and how to care for it.
The most important point is to buy compression stockings, tights, knee-highs exclusively in specialized, orthopedic salons or dealers of famous brands. In them, trained personnel know how to accurately select the size of the linen, since the wrong size can turn the treatment into an absolutely ineffective one. In a special store, the seller will measure the leg in 4 places and select the size of the tights or stockings according to a special table.
There are 4 degrees of compression:
- 18-21 mm. rt. Art. Compression class 1 is a preventive compression that can and even should be constantly worn by people: prone to varicose veins, pregnant women, people with initial signs of varicose veins, when the veins under the skin stand out strongly, if after long sitting or standing there are pains in the legs, if the spider veins are pronounced and edema appears in the area of the feet and ankles at the end of the day, healthy people whose lifestyle and work forces them to sit or stand for a long time - to office workers, drivers, hairdressers, salespeople.
- 23 - 32 mm. rt. Art. Compression class 2 is the best, popular class that is used to treat thrombophlebitis and varicose veins.
- 34 - 46 mm. rt. Art. Compression class 3 - used for trophic disorders and in severe venous insufficiency.
- 49 and more 4 compression class - used extremely rarely, with lymphatic edema.
Those who are choosing anti-varicose jersey for the first time should not immediately buy expensive underwear of the 2nd degree of compression, it is possible that your vascular system will not be able to withstand it. When you walk around in inexpensive underwear for some time, get used to it, if you feel comfortable in it, you can then pick up better and more expensive compression underwear.
For prevention, of course, it is worth using only underwear of the 1st compression class, and already with the development of varicose veins, the phlebologist determines the compression class. Compression underwear cannot cure varicose veins, since the reasons for its appearance are very deep and external influence can only be suspended, not allowed to develop further, that is, compression tights for varicose veins are designed to prevent the appearance of new varicose veins. In summer, of course, it is impossible to wear knitwear, so in the warm season you should take medications by mouth, or use other methods of treatment.
You should also know that any compression underwear keeps compression for no more than 5-7 months.
The opinions of some women about the quality of compensation underwear from various manufacturers show that expensive models are not always better in quality than budget ones. Linens made in Germany are of good quality, the prices for which are quite reasonable.
What to look for when buying and how to avoid counterfeiting?
There are quality standards for medical compression underwear for varicose veins, one of the most significant and strict is the European standard RAL-GZ-387. In order for a manufacturer to use the logo of this standard, he must undergo strict certification in Germany or Switzerland. If the underwear has such a certificate, it means that it is really of high quality, creates a distributed pressure of 40-70-100% and is therapeutic, you can learn about this standard from the packaging and the label on the product.
It is worth choosing a manufacturer very carefully, since there are a lot of fakes on our market, so it is better to purchase compression stockings or compression tights either in dealer stores or in specialized stores, where specialists will accurately select the right model according to your measurements.
Since such knitwear should be worn every day, it must be hypoallergenic; in order to determine this, the purchased product must bear the mark of the European environmental safety standard Oeko-Tex Standard 10.
Are there any peculiarities when putting on compression stockings, tights, golf?
You should be aware that even the second class of compression hosiery, which is considered the most common, is sometimes "beyond his power" for the patient:
- Often this occurs due to the inconvenience and difficulty of putting on the underwear on your feet. The peculiarity of such knitwear is that it cannot be dressed like children's tights, collecting it in an accordion and then pulling it up. Both stockings and tights should be put on gradually, spreading out on the leg. If a person has a large belly, and tying a lace on a boot is already a problem, then it will also be difficult to put on underwear.
- For ease of putting on, many use special devices offered in the same salons. And also gloves, which must be worn, they can be both household and medical, since expensive underwear can be ruined by a manicure and the underwear will slip better if your hands are in gloves.
- Naturally, toenails should be trimmed, filed, there should be no corns, roughness, otherwise the linen will quickly burst or there will be a lot of puffs.
- It is also important that the legs are dry, and the underwear too, to wear compression hosiery should be in the morning, when the legs are not swollen and rested.
- It is especially difficult to wear compression class 3 products - this is a lot of work, and if the patient believes his phlebologist and is sure that he needs such treatment, then you should be patient, otherwise you should not start treatment from this class. It is usually recommended to wear class 3 and 4 compression using a special special device.
How to care for compression garments?
- It is best to have 2 pairs of compression tights, since it should be washed every day - this is necessary to get rid of the smallest specks, dust, skin particles, since they can damage the fibers of the laundry faster than detergents.
- It should be washed only by hand with baby soap, as it cannot be washed in washing machines. The temperature of the water during washing should not be higher than 40 C, and it is also impossible to iron and bleach the laundry.
- Any rinse aid and conditioner have a destructive effect on the structure, so they should also not be used for washing.
- Dry the laundry in a flattened form on a horizontal surface, in no case wring it out, but only gently press it in a towel. Do not dry the jersey on a radiator, in an ordinary dryer in an upright position, or in the open sun or using a hair dryer.
- You should also take care of the silicone strips on the stockings, they quickly lose their fixing properties after contact with water, try not to wet them when washing, but wipe them with an alcohol napkin.