Flight Socks

When you are playing a sport or game you will generally prepare by equipping yourself with all the accessories needed to ensure that you perform to your best ability and without injury. In day to day life people tend not to take these precautions, and with the prevalence of flying these days’ people don’t think about taking injury precautions. The most significant injury associated with long-distance flights is deep vein thrombosis which is the clotting of blood in your legs. The best way of preventing deep-vein thrombosis is by wearing flight socks which significantly reduce the chance of this occurring, points to note about compression stockings is that they are best fitted by a doctor so as to get that level of compression correct. The purpose of this article is to provide information on flight socks and how they can be used to reduce the chances of an injury during flight from occurring.

Compression socks used in flying a generally made out of an inorganic materials, which is knitted together to make a tight sleeve that is enclosed at one end. By applying pressure to the skin these socks are able to increase the rate that blood travels through the veins in the legs. Increasing the rate of blood flow in the legs reduces the chance of blood clots forming as the blood is not stationary for long enough to coagulate. By wearing these socks during travel you will significantly reduce the chance of getting DVT although to reduce the chance even further it is best that these socks be prescribed by your doctor.

Compression stockings come in different sizes which relates to different pressure levels being applied to the leg, depending on the risk factors that you have you may need a higher or lower pressure stocking. The best way of getting the correct measurement for your pressure stocking is by seeing a doctor who will take your blood pressure into consideration when prescribing the correct stocking. The amount of pressure applied by a flight sock can be measured and mmHg and in order to ensure you have the right flight sock you must compare this reading to your blood pressure. Having a doctor do this reading is important as only they know the correct pressure for you and will be able to get you used to the idea of wearing a high pressure stocking.

In general when picking out a sock comfort is a factor which takes precedent and generally you will go with a sock which it is best fit and most pleasurable to wear. Compression socks on the other hand are difficult to put on and relatively uncomfortable to wear as they are so tight and apply a huge amount of pressure to your skin. Getting used to the high amount of pressure on your skin takes some time so it is recommended that travelers using compression stockings use them for a few days before the flight. After a while, wearing these socks becomes less uncomfortable and given the health benefits you really can’t afford not to wear them.

By now I’m sure that you’re able to see the significance of flight socks and the reason why they were invented. By having your flight socks fitted by a doctor and wearing them to get used to the compression, you can be sure to significantly reduce the chance of getting deep vein thrombosis.