10 Compression Sock LIES! [Varicose Veins, Swollen Ankles & Feet]

This is Dr. Tom Burnack and these are the 10 myths about compression socks, all the pros, all the cons, and how to use them properly and we're starting now. The goal here is to show you how to use compression socks properly, fit them properly, and get the best use out of them and all the studies. Compression socks, while beneficial in a lot of cases, are surrounded by a ton of myths and misconceptions. For example, myth number one, they're only for the elderly or athletes. The reality is they are usually used by older people with swelling and they are used by some athletes. They can be very beneficial for people who are standing, sitting for long periods of time, plane rides, pregnant woman, individuals with certain medical conditions that lead to swelling. When my wife is pregnant, we do use these to prevent varicose veins because during pregnancy, that's a very common time to potentially build permanent varicose veins. You don't want that. Myth number two, they're uncomfortable and ugly. There are some fancy styles now, colors, materials. These have gotten a lot better and they can be very comfortable. You can wear them to business meetings, you can wear them with dress shoes. So nobody even knows you're wearing compression socks. Myth number three, only people with circulation problems need them. The reality is they are beneficial with people who sit for long periods of time. Right now, if you sit more than about 15 minutes, that's probably pretty unhealthy for you. Your risk of swelling, varicose veins, blood clots, fatigue, tiredness, low energy go up. That's a beneficial time to try compression stockings. Myth number four, they can completely prevent blood clots. These are very well studied, but they only reduce the chance of blood clots. They do decrease swelling. They improve the circulation of your blood because the valves can now pump the blood a little bit better. But nothing is foolproof. In fact, if you've had blood clots in the past, if you've had surgeries, if you're on certain medications, your risk of blood clots can still be high. Myth number five, stronger compression is always better. This is a huge myth and I strongly recommend people get low compression socks to start with. You can do eight to 15 millimeters or 10 to 20 millimeters. Those are the low ranges and I say start with that. That's usually all people need. This level is completely adequate for all the benefits that we talk about. Excessively strong compression socks, 99% of people do not wear them. And this is the problem with insurance. Insurance only covers the super strong ones because they know nobody actually wants those so they don't have to pay for socks. Don't you love insurance companies? Myth number six, they're just for legs. The reality is there's full length garments. You can wear compression pants that squeeze your thighs, your hamstrings, your arms, gloves for hands. These depend on the type of compression needed. There's a ton of different situations. Myth number seven, they're difficult to put on and off. While the goal is they are snug, there are easy devices to put these on. Especially for my older patients, I make them get something called a stocking donner. This is a device where you stretch your sock, put it on there, and you just stick your foot in there. Your sock goes on. You don't have to pull anything up. I do that for patients as well. I don't like to bend over and put them on 100 times per day. So it makes it a lot easier. Myth number eight, compression socks can cure varicose veins. There are so many great solutions for varicose veins. And these can definitely help manage the symptoms. And they stop them from getting worse. In a lot of cases, they can cool down the inflammation and improve them. But they are not a cure for varicose veins. In fact, if you're talking about varicose veins, even taking a look at your ankles, your hamstrings, to get yourself straight, good insoles, good shoes, that can really take a pressure off those varicose veins. That swelling and inflammation can come down. But in a lot of cases, if that valve is destroyed, sometimes you just have to close down that vein and let the other veins pick up the slack. Myth, you need a prescription to get them. The reality is, don't waste your time with prescriptions. Insurance is not as good as it used to be. And in fact, the costs on these socks have come down. Insurances only cover the super high strength ones. And you've got to make trips to the medical specialty store, drop off your prescription. It is so annoying now. Realistically, check out the prices in some of the links I put down there. These are so low cost now that it's not even worth leaving your house. Get Amazon to drop it off at your door for you. However, if you have to use it for specialty uses, I always put the disclaimer, trust your doctor if they give you a stronger one. Myth, they can replace medication or other treatments. In a lot of cases, compression stockings can really help. And they make a big difference. They're relatively safe. They're low cost. They're easy. But if you have a blood clot, that doesn't mean you should stop taking your blood clot medications. Same with lymphedema. Same with a lot of other swelling conditions. Here are tips for buying a great compression sock. Get the right size. Get a measuring tape and measure your calf, your thigh, your ankle. And do it in the morning when you're not swollen. Because later in the day, you're super swollen. You want to make sure it's tight. You want to make sure it's at the proper level that it should be. And choose the right compression level. Start very mild, like 8 to 15 millimeters of mercury. Extra firm is like 40 millimeters of mercury. Those are so hard to get on. And the only reason they exist, I think, is because insurance knows people don't want them. And so they can say they cover them. I don't see anybody practically wearing those upper levels. Next, consider the material. Compression socks are made from nylon, cotton, spandex, and more. There are a lot of great reviewed materials. They can look nice. Check out some of the links below. Some compression socks can be challenging to put on or off. Look at a stocking donner. If you're having a hard time, I would say if you don't have a stocking donner, that's probably a major reason you're not going to use it, because it's very hard and annoying to use. Make sure it's not pinching your skin. If your sock is too short or, for example, you get a cuff of swelling around your knee, go up even higher. Some patients can get the full leg garment or all the way up to the thigh. That might be an easy solution. You can put that on a stocking donner and get in there. And it's an easy way to get that on. Trust me, it's worth it. And consider your lifestyle. If you're using them for athletics or if you're using them for sitting or managing varicose veins, put them on in the morning, potentially, rather than later when you're doing a jog or a run. And check for discomfort. Because your blood pressure is usually over 100 millimeters of mercury, unless they're really tight, they shouldn't choke your foot. I've personally not seen it, even in people with terrible blood flow. I have to put a disclaimer because there could be that one person at home with even worse blood flow that could get choked off. But generally, they should be very safe. You can get open toed ones. If you have numbness, tingling, severe pinching of your skin, don't wear them. And in fact, wearing schedule. Should you wear them at night? You don't need to wear them at night because ideally you're horizontal and you're not swelling as much and give your skin a chance to relax. You don't want it constantly squeezing. You don't want sweat caught up in there all day. Treatment options. Let's talk about swelling, venous insufficiency, flebolymphedema, lipodermatosclerosis, and lymphedema and how they tie into spider veins, varicose veins. Treatment for swelling focuses on the underlying causes. Swelling is usually related to heart disease, body weight, kidney disease, liver dysfunction, and inflammation in your body. I could talk about this in 100 videos. In fact, I do. I go over those in details, but the most important things are lifestyle modifications. Get as healthy as possible. That's the real underlying root cause. Things like elevating your legs, compression stockings are not as important. They help, but they never cure the root cause. So this patient lost a little bit of weight, helped their diabetes, helped their heart function, and it naturally got better. They didn't need to wear fancy contraptions every single day. Even though that stuff helps, really the root cause is getting your health in order. Curing the root cause is getting your muscle strength up, sleeping well, and gradually losing weight. And cardio. So those four things. If I could put them in order, statistically, these have been studied. But number one, you have to build up your strength. Number two, you have to be sure to be getting proper sleep. Number three, you want to do a little bit of cardio to get your heart function up if it's safe. And at the same time, you want to sleep and get enough sleep. So seven to nine hours can make a big difference on your heart, on your blood sugar level, on your cortisol, on your blood pressure. Those things are what's really important to improve. The next easiest thing to go from the left to the right is to get the proper orthotics. If you have the proper orthotics, it holds your foot and your ankle straight, and it stops the plantar fascia, the inside of the ankle muscles, the calf muscles. They don't have to work as hard, so they're not as sore and swollen. Very quickly, I'm talking within a week or two, you can get a dramatic improvement in your swelling. So everybody, wear good insoles, wear good shoes in the house, and then start getting healthier. Start losing weight. Basically, if you come in with wounds or scaly skin, I would do something called an UNARAP. So I would apply that in the office and wrap up your leg. It moisturizes. It comforts your legs. It can comfortably be worn for numerous days until that skin heals up. Then we can get you in more of a long-term compression sock. But you don't need a doctor's prescription. You know, they're cheaper. They're mass-produced on Amazon now. That helps for venous insufficiency, libo-lymphedema, lipodermatosclerosis. The big secret with compression socks are get ones that are easy to put on and low cost like the 8 to 15 millimeter range. You don't need the 30 to 40 millimeter range. Even though these are more expensive and insurances cover the high ones, but not the low ones, nobody uses them. And if you get yourself something called the stocking donner, it's so much easier to put on. So go with a low strength and use a stocking donner if you have a hard time. These are both low cost. There are more advanced compression socks. So there's pumps. There's under-computer pumps that are relatively low cost that can help. For patients with more advanced swelling, these are called compression ferrule wraps. These are unbelievable. They're so easy to get on. You can easily adjust this thickness, especially as your swelling comes down. If regular compression socks don't fit your leg for some reason, this is almost always the answer. And they work so well. And if you want massaging, there's such cheap leg pumps now, like I'm talking like 50 bucks or so. You can wear these at a computer desk while you're working. These work unbelievably well. There's foot massagers. If you sit at a computer all day, compression massagers and foot massagers are very effective. I have a lot in the show notes. Elevating the legs isn't really practical. Even though it does get your swelling down, are you going to live the rest of your life with elevated legs? That doesn't make sense. Walking is probably more important than elevating the legs. In some cases, surgery is needed if you have deficiency. If you have severe varicose veins that are not getting better, sometimes surgery is needed. For lymphedema, lymphedema wraps, manual compression, skin care is very important. Same thing with lipodermatosclerosis. And when you start to develop skin issues, if you have swelling and skin issues, start by moisturizing and then put a sock over it and then get these ferrule wraps, which I have linked down below. But essentially, if you just put these ferrule wraps on over your skin, they will get yucky and you'll have to throw them out in like a week or two. But with moisturizing lotion and a sock, socks are a lot cheaper. Then you get the dressings on over them. This works unbelievably well. Exercise and physical therapy is very important to manage your lymphatic flow. Compression devices, as mentioned, are very important. Skin care and hygiene. When you develop that scaly, cracked skin, you have to moisturize numerous times a day, especially if you take a bath or a shower. Make sure to moisturize. If you have spider veins and varicose veins and your swelling is coming down, you're already in great shape. That's the time to look at potential surgery. We provide this service where we can help in Michigan. Give our office a call and let us know. There are treatments for veins. There's sclerotherapy. There's light therapy. There's venous ablations, radiofrequency ablations. There's a lot of in-office procedures that can help. If you have a blood clot, that's basically going on a blood thinner to break it up. If you have a lot of blood clots, you can actually get something called a greenfield filter to block it from getting into your lungs. If you have an active one, sometimes a IV medication called thrombolytic therapy might be needed to break up that clot. If you have this problem, check out our videos. I go over the all-natural guides to help with your swelling, the all-natural best supplements, the best exercises, the best everything. Check those out below. We have specific videos on all these topics.