The Science Behind Compression Braces
The Science Behind Compression Braces
WE SIMPLIFY WHY & HOW THEY HELP US:
Like us, many people with chronic pain conditions use compression sleeves and tights to provide relief for tired joints, but why exactly does a super tight sock feel so good on an aching heel?
The type of pain that benefits from compression is caused by inflammation and stress of the connective tissue around the joint. Connective tissue is the tendons, ligaments, and fascia (pronounced fa-shuh, a thin sheet of tissue that envelopes muscle fibres) that hold the joint together and support it through movement. Connective tissue is made up of a whole load of stuff like cartilage, fat, and collagen. In syndromes like Ehlers-Danlos and Hypermobility, it’s the collagen that’s deficient and causing problems.
The tissue becomes inflamed when the cells of your immune system respond to a danger signal and release chemicals to draw in more cells. This causes lots of blood and fluids to flood the tissue as the immune system tries to fix the damage and is recognisable by the four key signs of inflammation: redness, pain, swelling, and heat. The problem with inflammation is that too much of it, chronic inflammation, can lead to tissue damage as the blood that is meant to be constantly circulating and bringing fresh oxygen isn’t doing its job.
Unfortunately, in many chronic pain cases, and particularly in autoimmunity, the danger signals may be false alarms, meaning the response meant to fix the situation can end up causing more harm than good.
Compression braces work by literally squeezing all the blood and immune cells back out of the affected area and promote healthy circulation by venous return where deoxygenated blood cells are sent back to the heart and lungs for fresh oxygen and nutrients.
Compression tights are also useful in dysautonomia and orthostatic intolerance like POTS. This is because the pressure on the legs counters the effects of gravity by pushing blood back up to the heart and brain to prevent fainting. Some studies are even reporting on the benefits of “garments that compress the abdomen”. A fancy way of describing a compression corset, but I’ll leave that to someone else to style.
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