Sleeping with Compression Socks: What to Know

If you spend a lot of time on your feet, experience nighttime leg swelling, or have other leg-related health issues, wearing compression socks can provide much-needed relief.

Let’s look at what they are and how they work.

What Are Compression Socks?

These specialized socks are designed to gently apply pressure to your ankles and legs. The primary benefit is that their unique design improves blood circulation, reduces swelling, relieves nighttime leg swelling, and addresses various other medical concerns.

How They Work

Compression socks are designed to apply the strongest pressure at the ankles, with a gradual decrease in pressure as the sock moves up the leg. The sock’s squeezing action helps enhance and alleviate certain conditions.

The Benefits of Compression Socks

  • Improves circulation: By gently compressing veins and arteries, compression socks help push blood back to the heart more efficiently, alleviating the possibility of blood pooling in the lower legs and feet. 

  • Reduces swelling: If you suffer from a buildup of fluid in your legs and ankles, called Edema, compression socks help to reduce this fluid. They can be especially helpful for people who spend most of their day on their feet or sitting, as well as for pregnant women.

Medical Uses for Compression Socks

  • Prevent blood clots after surgery.

  • To treat varicose veins and spider veins.

  • Sleeping with circulation issues like Chronic venous insufficiency, when the veins in the legs have difficulty pushing blood back to the heart.

  • Orthostatic Hypotension: A form of low blood pressure that results in lightheadedness when you stand up. Compression socks can help alleviate dizziness.

Are Compression Socks Safe to Sleep In?

Unless you are suffering from a medical condition that your doctor believes you would benefit from wearing compression socks while sleeping, it isn’t recommended for healthy individuals.

Benefits of compression socks at night and who should wear them:

  • People who suffer from venous ulcers often have open sores (ulcers). This is a serious condition, and doctors frequently recommend wearing compression socks during the healing process. 

  • Post-surgery recovery to help prevent the formation of blood clots.

  • Lymphedema: If you suffer from severe swelling, compression socks may be recommended to help alleviate the lymphedema.

In summary, your doctor will generally recommend wearing these socks at night only for a short period related to a specific medical condition.  

So, if that’s the case, when should healthy people with no medical issues wear them?

Compression socks are meant to counteract the effects of gravity. These effects are at their worst when we are standing or sitting for long periods of time. 

The people who benefit the most from wearing compression socks during the day are:

  • People who spend most of their day sitting or on their feet, like hospital staff, retail workers, flight attendants, and doctors. Wearing them during the day reduces leg fatigue, pain, and swelling.

  • Pregnant women can counteract the swelling that comes with the late stages of pregnancy by wearing compression socks.

  • Athletes wear them for performance and recovery. By wearing them during and after exercise, they can improve blood flow to the muscles and aid in recovery by helping release lactic acid from the muscles.

  • Air travel or long car rides. By wearing them, the threat of blood clots and swelling is reduced.

How Yana Sleep Can Help

If you suffer from restless legs, swelling, or spinal issues, getting a good night’s sleep can be difficult. 

Yana sleep products offer solutions to alleviate the difficulties of sleeping with circulation issues.

Yana 360’ Body Pillow: The ultimate in wrap-around comfort. The pillow’s “U”-shaped design supports your head, neck, shoulders, and spine. The long side allows you to rest your top leg over the soft pillow side, putting your spine in perfect alignment. 

The pillow also supports your hips and shoulders, eliminating pressure-point pain. Another benefit is that if you switch sides, you don’t need to move the pillow because you have the same length on the other side. 

Sleeping in perfect spinal alignment takes stress off your joints and spine, helping to reduce swelling and pain in your legs and body.

Side Sleeper Pillow: A rectangular pillow that is perfectly shaped for you to hug if you are a side sleeper. Like the full body pillow, it is designed to provide relief for your neck, shoulders, and spine.

Both the full body pillow and the side sleeper pillow can also be used if you are a back sleeper.

Slide the side sleeper pillow under your legs to take the pressure off your spine and reduce leg swelling, or use the full body pillow and bend one side to put under both legs for the same effect.

Great sleep begins with Yana Sleep products!