#Lower leg compression machine how to

But reviewing the steps practitioners need to take when fitting patients with stockings can help avoid these sequelae and may improve the stockings’ preventive capabilities.Ĭompression hosiery works by applying graduated, sustained pressure to the lower leg, delivering more pressure at the ankle and decreasing pressure in a proximal direction. Improper fit can have serious consequences, such as necrotic tissue damage, trauma, and possible ulceration. Not every patient can do it,” said Mark Hinkes, DPM, chief of the podiatry section at the Veterans Affairs Medical Centers in Nashville and Murfeesboro, TN, where the majority of his patients are diabetic. “Putting compression stockings on is like going 10 rounds of boxing. The study also revealed that 29% of patients used the stockings incorrectly, which was especially true in overweight patients who wore thigh-length stockings. A study published in the September 2008 issue of the American Journal of Nursing showed that in 142 hospitalized, postoperative patients, graduated stockings were sized incorrectly in 26% of patients. That’s why practitioners often cite patient compliance as a key component of treatment that needs improvement.īut, in fact, practitioners themselves may be hindering treatment outcomes. On top of that, patients are often disheartened by the news that they’ll need to wear the hosiery for the rest of their lives. They balk at how difficult they are to put on, and the stockings’ unattractiveness isn’t much of an incentive.

For these clients, the stockings are a hard sell. The approximately 600,000 individuals in the United States affected by DVT every year are primarily an older patient population, often plagued by limited mobility and dexterity. DVT is associated with edema, venous stasis dermatitis, venous stasis ulcers, and increased risk of pulmonary and other forms of embolism. Routinely prescribed for patients with deep vein thrombosis, gradient compression stockings are a tried and true treatment option for the accumulation of fluid in the lower extremities.

#Lower leg compression machine how to

But, in fact, practitioners themselves may be to blame for not ensuring that stockings are fit properly and that patients know how to wear them correctly. Patient compliance is often cited as hindering compression therapy outcomes.