So you are using compression stockings. Guess what?   The gap between you and Michael Phelps just got smaller.   Compression gear is all the rage in today’s athletic world, with claims of gaining top competitive edge through circulatory advantages and reduced muscle soreness.   Athletes in a wide range of sports wear various forms of compression gear befitting their particular needs during and after competition.

While it is fun to jest about keeping company with the fast and famous, as you know, there are some fundamental differences between your own circulation and that of an athlete in his or her prime.   Thankfully, compression stockings can help you improve on a situation that is more fundamental to your health than the needs of an athlete looking for a marginal advantage in competition.

There are many factors that can lead to a physician prescribing compression stockings.   Aging, injury, illness or lifestyle choices such as the use of tobacco or alcohol can all contribute to the breakdown of the delicately interdependent vascular system in our legs.

In order for blood to flow healthily through our legs, there is a complex series of veins, valves and muscles pumping, contracting and releasing in a finely tuned cycle which is designed to work against gravity's downward inclination.   When valves start failing, blood pools to the surface through increased pressure in our leg veins and those closer to the skin surface are not meant to deal with such high pressure.

Compression stockings can help avoid and control the tendency toward this increased pressure which causes edema (swelling), varicose eczema and leg ulcers.   Compression hose puts continuous, evenly distributed pressure on the veins close to the surface, helping to reduce vein stretching and assisting the calf muscle as it pumps blood upward when exercising.

It is very important that a physician help you decide your stockings' compression weight and the size that is the right choice for your needs and treatment.   Too light a fit and all benefit is lost; with too tight a fit, you can worsen your circulation.   Compression weight is expressed by that mysterious mmGh designation on the compression stockings' package.   This indicates a measurement unit used for blood pressure, millimeters of mercury.   The average man on the street would refer to this as the stockings’ level of support or "squeeze power".

Living well with compression stockings should include the careful follow of a doctor recommended exercise regimen.   Your doctor will know what are appropriate activities for you given your particular medical condition.   Remember, too, that weight control and a good diet are key to a healthy body and a healthy outlook.   A ten to fifteen pound weight loss can have a significant, positive impact on the health of those legs that faithfully support you.