It is very important to renew your Compression Hosiery regularly. Compression hosiery is prescribed by a healthcare professional in order to help the blood in your leg veins to travel back up to your heart and so it needs to be effective. Unfortunately over time, with repeated wearing-washing-wearing, Compression Hosiery deteriorates, loses its elasticity and its compression. Even if not worn and just left in a draw for long enough, the materials in the darn “break down”. That is why Compression Hosiery should be replaced every 3-6 months.
Have you ever found an old elastic band at the back of the draw and found that it snaps easily?
Compression hosiery is widely recommended in order to:
- Reduce ache and swelling
- Reduce the risk of deterioration of varicose veins
- Reduce the risk of varicose vein recurrence after treatment
- Reduce the risk of venous leg ulcer recurrence after healing
- Prevent DVT
- Treat Superficial Vein Thrombosis (Phlebitis)
- Treat Varicose Veins in Pregnancy
- To treat the leg complications of a DVT
The aim of medical compression hosiery is to provide graduated compression with the highest pressure at the ankle and the lowest at the knee. That’s why it is important to maintain this pressure and ensure your compression prescription is updated every three or six months depending on the manufacturer and their recommended hosiery replacement prescription guidelines.
If your compression hosiery prescription is not repeated at the recommended time, the garment will lose its pressure and will become stretchy which means it cannot support and prevent swelling. The impact of this is a possible risk of further complications with skin changes (varicose eczema) and the oedema (fluid retention) not being controlled properly, leading to tissue breaking down into leg ulcers. To prevent swelling or skin breakdown leading to leg ulcers it is important that you follow recommendations from the manufacturer of your compression garment.
Remember, use of compression hosiery when there are early signs of venous insufficiency can help to prevent the development of ulcers in later life
Here are some tips and advice on the importance of wearing compression from the Leg Club:
- Only wear the stockings as prescribed
- Ideally wear your recommended hosiery every day
- Do not mend or darn any damage of your hosiery
- Put them on as soon as possible in the morning, and wear them until bedtime
- Make sure your skin is dry, especially after applying lotion as moisture makes it harder to pull stockings on
- Once the stocking is on, check that that there is no bunching or wrinkling, especially at the ankles
- Don’t fold the top of the stocking down
- Avoid prolonged standing or sitting
- Control risk factors (e.g. obesity, smoking)
If you would like more information about compression hosiery, please get in contact and one of our advisors will be happy to help you.