If you’ve shopped in a local health store, convenience store, or pharmacy, you’ve probably seen compression socks. But, what are they for? How do they work? And what are the benefits of wearing them? It may come as a surprise, but compression socks have a range of benefits for health, wellness, and pain relief.
These benefits all stem from the main result of wearing compression socks: increased blood circulation. When you promote blood flow, you’re able to boost many other factors of your health as well. This guide takes a closer look at how compression socks work and the benefits of compression socks you may not know about.
Read on to learn more!
How do Compression Socks Work?
Compression socks are socks that offer a tighter fit than most. These socks are made with tight elastic fibers that help the socks put pressure on your legs and feet. While it may sound counterintuitive that tight socks promote blood circulation, this pressure helps your blood vessels get to work. The how behind compression socks is a little more complex. Here’s how tight compression therapy can help promote blood flow.
The veins in your legs have a larger diameter, which means the blood flowing through the veins may travel more slowly. Compression socks work to squeeze these veins, reducing the diameter of the walls and speeding up how fast the blood vessels flow through your veins.
Think of it this way. If you have a garden hose that has a wide diameter and a steady flow of water, the water may come out slowly and less concentrated. However, if you were to squeeze the hose and keep the same water pressure, the water would come out more quickly and more concentrated. You’d get a stronger and faster stream of water.
Different Types of Compression Socks
There are two main types of compression socks: graduated compression socks and uniform compression socks.
Graduated Compression Socks
Graduated compression socks tend to be the most effective when it comes to boosting blood circulation. These socks have a unique fit. They’re tighter around the ankle and become less tight as they travel up the leg. This helps boost blood circulation more effectively because of the direction of the high-to-low gradient of pressure on the legs.
Uniform Compression Socks
Uniform compression socks are designed to promote blood flow and circulation during exercise. These target muscles and boost blood circulation to help reduce lactic acid build up and promote muscle growth. These aren’t quite as effective as graduated compression socks but they offer equal pressure for the legs and feet up towards the knee.
Benefits of Compression Socks
Compression socks are designed to promote a few benefits. These may come as a surprise, but they can provide relief and boost health. Here’s how.
Increased Blood Circulation
The most significant benefit of compression socks is increased blood circulation. Compression socks are designed to put pressure on your feet and legs by fitting tightly. This encourages your blood vessels to work better and faster, helping blood move through your body more freely. This also pushes blood back to your heart faster and helps boost health overall.
In addition to the benefits mentioned above, there are many other benefits that accompany increased circulation. For instance, increased circulation benefits how you’re able to exercise and increases performance during cardiovascular activity.
Here’s how it works. When your blood is able to circulate more efficiently through your body, more oxygen is able to reach your tissues. This not only promotes better performance while exercising and moving, but it can help decrease lactic acid build up and increase recovery time.
Pain Relief
Another benefit of wearing compression socks is relief from pain and discomfort. If you experience aches, pain, fatigue in your muscles, and can help prevent soreness after exercise as well.
Varicose Veins and Thrombosis (DVT)
Lastly, using compression socks can help prevent the development of varicose veins and thrombosis. Because of the increased blood flow, compression socks can help prevent these from occurring.
Get Your Compression Socks Today
Finding the right compression socks can help promote your overall health, reduce the risk of developing varicose veins and thrombosis, promote circulation and blood flow through your body, provide relief from pain, discomfort, and aches, and promote physical exercise and cardiovascular performance. The benefits of compression socks are numerous. So, if you haven’t gotten a pair, why wait? Grab a pair today.
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