What are the benefits of compression garments?

compression garments have several medical benefits such as reducing swelling from a surgical procedure and decreasing the risk of a blood clot. By speeding up the blood flow, compression garments also assist in flushing harmful fluids out of the body during post-surgical recovery. They also help control sudden uncomfortable movements (i.e. cough or sneeze), which is especially important during the immediate post-operative stage. Compression garments provide patient comfort and accelerate the healing process.

When is a compression garment used?

Compression garments have several uses but were intended to be used during surgical recovery. Plastic Surgeons generally recommend the usage of compression garments after a tummy tuck (abdominoplasty), liposuction, arm lift (brachioplasty), facelift (rhytidectomy), gastric bypass, breast surgeries, and gynecomastia (male breast reduction).

Dermatologists can also recommend compression garments for patients with lymphoma, burns, and varicose veins in an effort to increase quality of life.

A popular trend with compression garments is their non-medical use for body shaping and body slimming, which makes clothing fit better.

What is the difference between regular or retail garments (a.k.a. sportswear) and medical compression garments?

There are vast differences between retail garments and medical garments. For example, medical wear has a much higher level of compression than retail. When using additional fabric layers, panels, and a higher Lyrca®/Nylon (or Powernet) content, a medical garments compression rating can be 3-4 times that of sportswear.

Medical garments are also much more durable than retail compression wear. As long as product care instructions are followed, medical compression garments are designed to be worn 24/7 for up to 6 to 8 weeks without losing its integrity. Retail sportswear is only designed to be worn for the short term (4-6 hour increments) and would rapidly lose its compression if it was worn all day everyday.

What are the different types of compression garments?

Important points to remember when choosing a post operative compression garment is selecting the applicable garment and getting the right size. Choosing the incorrect post surgical compression garment can do more harm than good. The basic compression garments are girdles, pants, vests, sleeves, stockings, and binders. Always ask your surgeon or patient coordinator for advice to make sure you get the proper coverage.

What is the proper care for compression garments?

Our compression garments can be put in the washing machine on gentle cycles and always use a lower cycle when putting in the dryer. Compression garments need to be consistently snug to the body in order to maximize the results after plastic surgery.