After having certain operations, patients are quite often urged to use a compression garment, but few patients realize the many health benefits of wearing these garments.

A compression garment is built to improve the blood circulation to the area of the body that it is worn on. With the increased blood flow to the injured area of the body, the wound heals faster and with fewer complications.

In the case of a person post operation, this can also give more stability to the injured tissue – holding the area steady so the wound heals with minimal scarring.

The way a compression garments works is very simple, it’s a well designed fitted garment with elastic properties that allow the garment the closest possible fit. Many of these are fastened with Velcro to insure an adjustable fit, or they are designed as a stocking, to be pulled over the affected area. Either way, the universal fit and custom fitting stretch provide additional support to where you need it most.

A few other benefits to wearing compression garments after an operation are reduced infections at the site of the open area – by reducing the possible contaminants the body comes in contact with, in essence, a properly made and worn compression garment will give the body back its shape and reduce the swelling, pain, and inflammation from the muscles and tissues in the surrounding area.

There are many types of compression garments usually defined by where they are worn on the body. Everything from support stockings that increase blood flow to the legs to help prevent blood clotting, to abdominal binders – particularly helpful to those that have undergone any kind of operation to the abdomen or women recovering from pregnancy, to specialized undergarments for women who’ve undergone breast augmentation or a mastectomy, nearly any surgical patient can benefit from the use of a compression garment. Click here to view a wide range of .

For patients who will be confined to a bed for any length of time, support stockings are generally recommend, to keep up the circulation in your legs, and help keep you mobile. One of the common reasons for support stockings for post surgical application is to prevent medical setbacks like stroke or blood clots. Before the widespread use of support hose, often what would happen is a patient would recover only to have a devastating blood clot to the brain or heart causing a sometimes fatal stroke or heart attack. The support hose helps to keep the blood circulation in the legs – which is often where clots tend to form – at the farthest point from the heart.

Patients who undergo elective surgeries such as a facelift, tummy tuck, and liposuction use compression garments to help heal faster and give the body the desired shape it needs to heal in. The wonderful elasticity of these garments keeps the blood flow steady, reducing swelling and infection, and actually in some cases, reducing the amount of healing time necessary for a full recovery.