COMPRESSION STOCKINGS

• The volume of blood in our body is on average 6 litres per person.
• At any given time the blood is pumped from heart to the various arteries and sent to our vital organs such as brain, lungs, liver and to our limbs.
• From these organs and limbs the blood is taken back to the heart via veins.
• There is usually 65-70% of circulation of blood at any given time in the veins of which large percentage is in our lower limbs.
• The veins in our legs have valves which close in one direction to allow the blood to be returned with each pump of the heart through various compartments.
• As we age, in conditions of after birth of a baby, or post-venous surgeries, lifestyle- excessive standing, walking, recreational hobbies as a lot of skiing, hiking etc.

How to obtain?

• Speak to your family physician for a prescription based on your lifestyle the doctor will give you one.
• Check your insurance company for coverage amounts and number of stocking pairs covered per year.
• Come to Spirit of Physiotherapy and Massage for an evaluation.
• Pay for the stockings order and pick up is usually one to two business days.

Why choose Spirit of Physiotherapy and Massage?

• Not only do we have expertise in measuring and recommending suitable stockings but we also have the ability to perform a specific evaluation called a lower limb assessment which requires more than just a day of training.
• This is a specialized discipline. It assesses both your lifestyle needs and the ability of your legs and ability of your veins to return the blood to your heart along with any other skin issues which might be affecting your legs and having blood pool in them causing swelling.
• A lot of times swelling present in the legs cannot be reduced by just the stockings and you may need compression wrapping and therapy to first decrease the swelling. If there are issues with the veins and arteries in the legs then regular compression treatments do not work. Identifying these issues before they become problematic is key and this is where the expertise for long term management lies.
• Our therapist and fitter has over ten years managing such conditions and is able to make excellent recommendations to assist in long term management and evaluation.

LOWER LEG ASSESSMENT

These conditions require proper management of swelling and then followed by obtaining prescription grade stockings. A lot of times these stocking are put on without due swelling management and can have an adverse effect on the persons limbs and cause more swelling.
Have a proper lower leg assessment and then graduated compression allows for fluid present to be removed from the legs by the patient’s body followed by appropriate management either in the form of stockings or in the form of compression therapy.

Proper patient education and care of the skin are essential in obtaining well managed outcome for the individual patients.

Contact information:
Phone: 403-454-4451
Email: info@spiritofphysiotherapy.com
Web: www.spiritofphysiotherapy.com