Whether for comfort, activity or to help prevent serious medical conditions, compression stockings can help achieve your patient’s needs.

Compression wear can help improve blood flow and help ease pain and swelling in the legs. It’s important for patients with diabetes or other foot conditions to consider wearing compression socks or stockings to help manage any discomfort or to prevent conditions from worsening.

While compression stockings are designed to be snug, it’s important to make sure they aren’t too tight on your patient’s leg. Compression hosiery is tighter around the ankle and loosens a little as it moves up the leg.

To make sure you are putting your patient in the correct size, here are a few compression fitting tips to make sure your patient is wearing the correct size and understands how to put them on.

Compression Fitting Tips

First, you want to have the patient remove their stockings. If the patient has swollen ankles, you want to measure them first thing in the morning. If they don’t have that problem, you can measure them any time of the day.

When you measure, you want to get the measurement from the smallest part of the ankle, just above the bone, and from the widest part of the calf. The widest part of the calf sometimes can be found by pushing on the calf muscle. Let’s say the ankle measurement is nine and the calf measurement is 15.5, you’ll take those two measurements and then look on the back of the box or in our measurement chart to find the correct size. For example, these measurements will be a size medium.

Donning

The first step in donning is to take the stocking and put your hand in the inside. Take your thumb and forefinger to pinch the heel of the stocking together. Continue to hold that heel while you turn the stocking inside out. You make a pocket for the foot, and then continue to don. Go over the foot and pull the compression stocking over the heel.

Make sure you are not wearing jewelry or rings when you're donning graduated compression hose because they can snag, run or pull. Then work the stocking up to about one inch below the knee. Sometimes it helps to wear donning gloves.

Open-Toe Compression Hose

Another donning technique is for our open-toe compression hose. In the packaging, there should be a toe slip that makes it easy for the stocking to don with an open toe stocking. The toe slip goes over the toe, and then you use the same technique from above, put your hand into the stocking and pinch the heel with your thumb and forefinger. Pull that inside out, make a little pocket. Now, this time it's very easy to slide it over because there isn't anything to restrict you with the toes, and it makes it easy for that toe slip to glide over. Again, pull the stocking up to about one inch below the knee. It may need a little readjusting, but that's normal. Then pull the toe slip off.

Open-toe compression stockings might be a good option for your patient if he/she has large feet, hammertoes or bunions. It’s also ideal to wear with sandals or if your patient wants to wear stockings over it.

Metal Stocking Donner

Another way to don a stocking is to use the metal stocking donner that Dr. Comfort Shape-to Fit makes. It’s a sturdier option.

What you want to do is keep the closed part toward the body and use a sock. It’s a lot easier to don using a sock versus something shear because it can be a little more difficult to get it on.

Push the sock down until you make a nice heel pocket. If someone can't sit or bend, with hip or knee problems, make sure they have a table or something very sturdy to balance on. Point the toe, step down into it and pull up with the handles. Adjust as needed.

For more information about compression or fitting tips, visit our resource page.

The contents of this blog were independently prepared, and are for informational purposes only. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not necessarily indicative of the views of any other party. Individual results may vary depending on a variety of patient-specific attributes and related factors.

Neither Dr. Comfort nor any of its subsidiaries dispense medical advice. The contents of this article do not constitute medical, legal, or any other type of professional advice.