Compression Stockings Explained

Compression stockings have been designed to cater specifically for the medical sector, and have been successful in fulfilling their role.

• What are they?

Relatively tight types of leggings, compression stockings are used to combat deep vein thrombosis (DVT), by ensuring the circulation of blood and reduction in swelling. For those with tissue weakness around the veins, the stockings help in applying more pressure and keep a tight hold on the trouble spots.

The stockings are designed to offer pressure in grades across the leg, with the most being at the ankle. This is the area needing more support as it undertakes the most strain.

• How they help?

Their primary function is to keep the blood flow running smoothly in the legs. Valves that maintain blood flow in the right direction often end up not meeting in the ideal manner, causing a reverse in the flow, and making the veins varicose. Apart from the unsightly look it exhibits, such an event is also quite painful.

Compression stockings assist the wearer in avoiding this problem, as well as reducing the effects of any ailment already present, giving the body’s muscles a hand in the blood circulation process. Long haul travellers or those who walk around a lot are recommended to wear these leggings, to avoid DVT and ease pain in the leg.

• How to put them on

The fact that they are tight makes them a bit of a struggle to put on. Quite often, your medical practitioner will advise on the right grade to use, and fit it to ensure that maximum benefit is reaped.

When you need to take them off, you can always approach the professional to assist you. The key thing to remember is to let your foot slide in the stockings, and making sure that the fit is right, especially in the heel area. A gentle roll-up, using your hand to keep it consistent, is the best way. Never pull!

While they are slightly difficult to put on, compression stockings give the same look as any other type of leggings. Hence, you will never look odd as you continue your daily chores, with the comfort of mind that your legs are being cared for.

So, there are quite a few advantages for the wearer of these stockings. To make your daily grind a more pain-free one, make sure you get the right one for yourself.

Caffeinated Tights

The development of variety and uses of tights is ongoing. The most recent innovation in this product has been the introduction of coffee tights; that’s right, tights with caffeine, Caffeinated Tights. So just how do they work?

Tights are weaved from fabric, like nylon, and are porous in nature. Over the years, developers have added various creams and potions to these pores in order to benefit the wearers’ skin. The most recent change has been the introduction of caffeine, causing a commotion among health-conscious consumers.

In theory, caffeine used in small amounts works to boost your metabolism, helping in weight loss. Hence, the concept of coffee tights is to bring the caffeine into direct contact with the skin, enabling the fat loss benefit of it to initiate right away.

Once you wear the tights, your body heat begins the release process for the caffeine micro-granules, which enter into the skin and get to work on melting fat. By wearing them daily for a month, the following results will be evident:

• Soft and graceful skin
• Improved suppleness
• Reduced ripples or bumps (cellulite)
• Clear evidence of slimmer thighs
• And best of all, consistency in weight staying off!

So, it is all too good to be true? Well, the only visible negative is the cost. In order to experience the results, you need to wear the tights consecutively for 4 weeks. A pack of three costing £27 is recommended for a month, as the coffee tights suffer the same degradation as other normal ones. After washing 5 times, the caffeine effect wears thin, and it is advised not use them for any period longer than recommended.

For the majority, this one factor will not feature high on the list due to the advantages that await the wearer. After all, if the only effort is to wear a pair of tights to get silky smooth legs, wouldn’t you? In a world demanding hasty remedies, the caffeine tights offer an excellent option to the consumers.

So, what can these tights do for you? Well, it appears they can make a difference.

The Invention of Tights

With a long history spanning centuries, tights were originally the practical garment for men to wear when horseback riding. The present day hosiery, however, got developed only a few decades ago.

As public display of legs by women became more acceptable in the early 1900s, the need for hosiery increased. The contents used at that time to make the available stockings were silk and rayon. Nylon came into existence in the mid 1930s, with market availability only coming another decade later.

The early version of tights in the 1940s and 1950s were used primarily in film and theatre production, with the stockings, known as “Panti-legs”, having to be sown into the briefs of the performers. In 1953, Allen Gant Sr. commercialised this version of tights to bring into the market. The current-day design, however, owes its existence to Ernest G Price, who in 1956 developed a superior method for producing tights, which has been in practice ever-since.

Made of nylon, these tights still did not offer the comfort of today, with a seam stitching at the back of the leg completing the tight, due to limitations in methods available at that time. When DuPont developed Lycra in 1959, tights got endowed with the stretchy property that we see today, and gained more comfort in wearing.

The trend of miniskirts in the 1960s and 1970s gave a boost to tights being regarded as a fashion statement. Sales shot through the roof and overtook stockings, with technology continuing innovation of the product by removing the seam, but retaining the design.

From then on, the journey of developing tights gained momentum, with several types becoming available, as well as purpose-specific versions like body toning and fat-burning hosiery hitting the markets.

And one day in the near future, the problem of tights tearing could also be resolved through the usage of new material that is self-repairing when the edges are placed together. It has been a long journey in the development of hosiery, and it still continues to go further.