3 Surprising Benefits of Compression Therapy

Woman and man smiling while enjoying Leg Compression treatment at Restore

Compression therapy for legs is most commonly known for assisting with circulation and reduction in muscle pain.

However, more potential benefits fly under the radar, and they could be quite helpful.

Adults of all ages with certain issues, some of which are quite serious in nature, can use compression to assist their healing and various pain reduction treatments.

Ankle Pain

Ankle injuries are quite common among athletes, especially for sports that involve running and sudden direction changes. Such an injury can also occur after minor accidents if a person steps on uneven terrain or while carrying a heavy load.

A sprained ankle is usually followed by swelling, making it difficult and painful to walk without assistance.

How can compression therapy help with ankle pain?

RICE is an abbreviation for Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. Those four elements are commonly used to assist with ankle pain and swelling after an injury.

Compression plays a pivotal role since it helps the body to deliver more blood to the area. Along with it, oxygen and nutrients are delivered more effectively. In turn, it might help heal the area faster due to the nutrients carried to your ankle.

Ankle swelling and pain appear during the later stages of pregnancy, and a lot of women have trouble doing something as simple as standing on their feet. Swelling and pressure occur when fluids build up. Compression therapy may help push that fluid away from the legs and toward the core, reducing the swelling and pressure.

Cellulite

Nearly every woman has cellulite and it can negatively impact their self-image. It is less common in men, simply because it’s a form of fat, and it is stored differently in male and female bodies. Despite being so common, modern beauty standards set a negative association with cellulite.

Estrogen plays a big part in the creation of cellulite, and as women age, estrogen levels get higher, potentially increasing its visibility with deeper dimples.

There are a lot of promising treatments and most of them work to a degree but there’s not a definitive answer out there on how to permanently remove cellulite. Fully eliminating cellulite may not be possible but there are ways to reduce it.

It’s best to use a combination of different techniques to gain the most benefits from each.
Workouts and creams can have a great effect on reducing the appearance of cellulite, and so can compression therapy.

Cellulite is a problem of poor circulation and water retention to a certain degree. Compression therapy boosts blood circulation and lymph drainage. In combination with working out and a healthy diet, compression therapy could help decrease cellulite greatly.

However, even if you do not have visible cellulite, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to take precautions. Compression therapy could help keep it at bay, so it doesn’t appear

Venous Leg Ulcers

Venous leg ulcers are long-lasting sores on legs that can appear even after a minor injury. Persistently high pressure in veins damages the skin, creating an ulcer. They can last for weeks or even months if not treated appropriately.

The ulcer usually appears after a person has developed deep vein thrombosis or varicose veins. compression therapy can assist in healing both of these.

If an individual happens to develop an ulcer on their legs, antibiotics are used to prevent the wound from infecting. However, they don’t help heal the ulcer.

That’s why compression therapy has been shown to assist in healing ulcers. As more blood moves towards the leg with compression therapy, vital nutrients and oxygen are delivered and able to help treat the symptoms. Additionally, compression therapy could also help prevent ulcers from returning.

Before You Start a Compression Therapy

If you happen to have venous leg ulcers or ankle pain, make sure to take precautions under the guidance of a medical professional.

Compression therapy could be a great choice to reduce pain and get your blood pumping toward your legs. Regardless, you will still need to find out how serious the condition is, in case surgical intervention is necessary.

In the case of cellulite, surgeries like liposuction have been proven to either not have an effect on the appearance of your body, or make it even worse.

It’s purely a cosmetic change that compression therapy could help with. With the addition of physical activity and a fat-burning lifestyle, you could make it seemingly disappear in the long run.