Reduce Feet Flare-Ups With Compression Socks

Symptoms and Treatments Hand and Footwear
1

Hi Everyone! This is Sean, I am 29 and have had EM for a little over a year. I haven't been on this site for a little while but wanted to check back in and repost my discovery of compression socks and say how huge of a gamechanger they have been in reducing the significance of my daily flare ups. Compression socks delay the flood of blood through the dialated blood vessels and thus limit the pain and discomfort of EM flare-ups. They are awesome and have enabled me to have much more of a free life and in case someone doesn't know about them I felt compelled to repost. My doctor said there are no side effects for wearing them regularly and recommended the compression strength of 20-30mg.

I buy them from amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Mens-30-40-mmHg-Closed-Support/dp/B000GCRYK6/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1357426371&sr=8-4&keywords=jobst+compression+socks+men

2

Hi Sean. You are very very lucky that they work for you and help your pain especially with it being something that heats over the areas that burn!

As for me, even when I was just getting EM I can’t tolerate anything over my feet at all. Wearing socks like that within 2 minutes I’d be in excruciating agony with the burning.

Wonder why it doesn’t make you burn? Good you have found something though that helps glad to hear, hope it continues for you :slight_smile:

3

Hi Sean

Do you wear them to prevent the flares, so most of the time, or put them on when you are getting a flare? I cant imagine being able to put them on when flaring as the thought of having something on then fills me with horror!! however, if you wear them all the time and they prevent the flares then I would give it a try!!!

4

Scott, thanks for the tip. Do you have to wear them regularly to get the benefit, or does it help straight off?
Frances

5

I found this fascinating. I recently flew from London to Tasmania. The first leg was 6 hours long and I burned furiously all the way and for two pins would have turned around and gone home. The second leg was 13 hours long and I had promised my daughter that I would wear compression socks for fear of DVT. I put them on and was convinced I would be tearing them off in minutes but they felt OK and I even slept and the burning never happened. I took them off in Australia where I had a long wait for the third short leg and they duly flared and burned at the airport and all the way to my destination. It is extremely hot here and I am in constant flare and can’t imagine wearing anything whatsoever on my feet but I will definitely wear them on the way home and can’t wait to try them out when I get back to cold London.

6

This is VERY interesting! I have a few questions. Firstly, may I ask if your EM is in your toes, your entire feet, or extends up your legs?

Secondly, and you may not be able to answer this, but it seems that these could be damaging to those who also have Raynaud's. Have you looked into this or had any warnings about using them if you have cold extremities in between flares?

7

Good point Libby, be very careful about using anything compressive if suffering from Raynaud's. Jeeze, I tried it several times, it worked as Sean said I was so excited until I found out it was causing me the typical vicious circle you get when you have both EM and Raynaud's and you use too cold water or ice (omg no!). I'm glad the socks do work great for Sean, it must be huge relief, but really be very careful if you have cold feet/hands between flares, can make the whole thing just worse.

LibbyK said:

This is VERY interesting! I have a few questions. Firstly, may I ask if your EM is in your toes, your entire feet, or extends up your legs?

Secondly, and you may not be able to answer this, but it seems that these could be damaging to those who also have Raynaud's. Have you looked into this or had any warnings about using them if you have cold extremities in between flares?

8

Hi Sean

Nice to hear from you

I am new to the site, but one thing I have learned is not everything works for everyone

In fact a cure for one can exasperate the problem for another

I am a 61 year old female exhibiting EM signs for almost a decade

I have been subjected to compression socks several times

each time the redness, swelling & pain have dramatically increased to the point I want to cut OFF my feet to stop the pain!

Creams & Ointments other doctors have requested I use have a similar effect.

In sleep in a room I try to keep 58 degrees F with a bag of ice at my feet

cold water soaks give me relief for a short time

When I work I carry an ice chest so I can keep my feet cool.

I use gel packs & bags if ice made with zip lock baggies

I can not stand ANYTHING touching my feet & thus can NOT wear shoes.

heat, exercise & blood glucose over 100 seems to be triggers.

I have just been fired as I can not wear my shoes!

Even though they have a note from my doctor that says I am supposed to be barefoot....

They know it makes my condition worse, causes pain & may be encouraging ir-reversible damage

I love to workout, so we purchased a Bo-Flex

When I am in that room we keep it COLD as well.

any ideas to help me cope better, get my job back

should I sue my former employer?

Anyone got any other suggestions?

9

Great, thanks Sean. I have some compression socks from way back and will try. Thanks for sharing

Ajh

10

Think I tried this once before but gave it another go today with some flight socks. OK whilst wearing them even though feet were already buzzing and warm to begin with. All my toes went quite numb but apart from that I was reasonably comfortable. Kept them on for most of the day until late afternoon. When I took them off I had - and still have - a real humdinger of a flare in both feet. Don't think I will try it again. It is nearly midnight now and I am waiting for the flare to ease before I can even think of sleep. Ho Hum!

Great that it works for you and hope it continues that way. Just goes to show that what suits one person with EM doesn't suit another.

11

Wow, thanks for all the feedback! I’ll try to answer all the questions – hope I don’t miss any:).

My EM is in my toes, entire feet, and occasionally hands and face. I wear compression socks all day and only take them off to sleep and shower. I want to reiterate that I still do experience flare up and the socks themselves do not completely remove flare ups but DO lessen the intensity and discomfort of the flare ups in my experience. My strategy for mitigating flares throughout the day is to keep the socks on and use bags of frozen corn/peas to gently cool.

I would say that it is a preventive measure but also can help immediately (my discovery was during the summer when I had to go cut the grass and knew I was going to be in a world of discomfort so I thought I’d give the socks a try and even though I did flare it was considerably less than the previous post grass cutting experiences!).

As for the comment about Raynaud’s, yes this is something to keep in mind. I have Raynaud’s as well and when my toes get to cold it can cause them to flare so it’s a balancing act per se but something I would say it’s a huge deal if you are cognizant of the temperature. My toes only get extremely cold if I am in intensely cold environment.

Another item I have been trying lately is making sure I elevate my legs each day at a 90 degree angle for 15-20 mins. Not sure if its making a difference yet but I think there might be something to it. Another note about the socks, each pair is only good for about 6 months then they loose the elasticity.

Lastly, I agree that just because this works for me doesn’t mean it will for everyone but want to say that at one point I thought anything on my feet would be intolerable and was surprised to find out how much relief I found in the socks thus encourage anyone to try it before they knock it:).

12

Thanks-anything is worth a try-I was in flareup hell last night and would rather die than go through that intensity again :(



scanfield1 said:

Wow, thanks for all the feedback! I’ll try to answer all the questions – hope I don’t miss any:).

My EM is in my toes, entire feet, and occasionally hands and face. I wear compression socks all day and only take them off to sleep and shower. I want to reiterate that I still do experience flare up and the socks themselves do not completely remove flare ups but DO lessen the intensity and discomfort of the flare ups in my experience. My strategy for mitigating flares throughout the day is to keep the socks on and use bags of frozen corn/peas to gently cool.

I would say that it is a preventive measure but also can help immediately (my discovery was during the summer when I had to go cut the grass and knew I was going to be in a world of discomfort so I thought I’d give the socks a try and even though I did flare it was considerably less than the previous post grass cutting experiences!).

As for the comment about Raynaud’s, yes this is something to keep in mind. I have Raynaud’s as well and when my toes get to cold it can cause them to flare so it’s a balancing act per se but something I would say it’s a huge deal if you are cognizant of the temperature. My toes only get extremely cold if I am in intensely cold environment.

Another item I have been trying lately is making sure I elevate my legs each day at a 90 degree angle for 15-20 mins. Not sure if its making a difference yet but I think there might be something to it. Another note about the socks, each pair is only good for about 6 months then they loose the elasticity.

Lastly, I agree that just because this works for me doesn’t mean it will for everyone but want to say that at one point I thought anything on my feet would be intolerable and was surprised to find out how much relief I found in the socks thus encourage anyone to try it before they knock it:).

13

i tried some thin ones on, and they work for a while, and i love it, but when i took them off, i had the ulcer/blisters form more rapidly!! :( i will try to experiment with other brands, but right now im in quite a bit of pain. very interesting how much less flaring while wearing them. when i took them off at night i was back in flare mode. maybe i should just keep them on forever?? lol

14

thank you for the tip though!!! very good to know :D

15


sorry to hear about that. i know your feeling, i was so close to suicide after 3 months without sleep and constantly burning. I was even thinking about amputation. anyway, the surgery fixed my feet for 100%. i just hope it will last. Hope you find a way to get some relief yourself. try topical applied alcohol, always helped me. more % meant faster relief for me. vodka worked pretty good when applied on feet..
invisiblenature said:

Thanks-anything is worth a try-I was in flareup hell last night and would rather die than go through that intensity again :(




16

What was the surgery for that fixed your feet Liz?



liz said:


sorry to hear about that. i know your feeling, i was so close to suicide after 3 months without sleep and constantly burning. I was even thinking about amputation. anyway, the surgery fixed my feet for 100%. i just hope it will last. Hope you find a way to get some relief yourself. try topical applied alcohol, always helped me. more % meant faster relief for me. vodka worked pretty good when applied on feet…
invisiblenature said:

Thanks-anything is worth a try-I was in flareup hell last night and would rather die than go through that intensity again :frowning:




17


Hi Lauren, I underwent upper and lower sympatectomy in 10/2011 for raynaud's and EM. Both of it got fixed. Lot of doctors warned me before the surgery that it could cause it worse. I knew all the risks and possibilities, I just didn't want to live with the burning feet anymore. I think my EM was secondary to the raynaud's, but can't say it for 100%. I just know my EM started after long years of very cold hand/feet and one winter I got pretty bad chilblain, doctors didnt know what it was so I was told to cool down my feet as much as possible. Great advice how to treat chilblains right. So I was cooling my feet with cold water and the more I did it the worse it felt. And that's how I think my EM developed. I totally confused my body and the more I tried to get my feet colder the more burning they were. Then I found a doc who told me the sympatectomy could work in my case, so I didnt hesitate and underwent it with the best results I could imagine. I know some ppl's EM may even get WORSE after the sympatectomy but it can be real blessing for other. I underwent the risk and was lucky. Or better say I really believed the doctor and he did the best he could. Hard to describe how grateful I'm to him now. just btw my ears still get the flares, almost everyday and the face's burning sometimes as well but its something i can live with.
Lauren said:

What was the surgery for that fixed your feet Liz?

18

Okay, Sean, you’ve gotten my attention. I’m female 68 years, and recent surgery followed by physical rehab I bucked the constant suggestions for compression hose. Couldn’t imagine surviving with anything on my poor feet! Will order some and try!

19

Thanks for the tip, I will definitely give them a try. I love all the tips that come out of these discussions, you just never know what might help. Thanks so much for sharing. Like Mardee I avoid anything on my feet so never even gave this a thought, most drug stores sell them too so it's an easy way to give them a try.

20

Hmm, thanks for the suggestion! I was thinking of buying these. I work two jobs and for one of them I am on my feet in a very hot store (I am quitting in April though, thank God). I work with an elderly woman who PUTS A SPACE HEATER ON WHEN IT IS 70+ DEGREES in the store because she is on meds that make her cold. I feel like I can't tell her to turn it off because she will be miserable, but it is hell for me and my feet swell a lot. Luckily I do not experience pain with my symptoms, just discomfort/feet that feel so hot that I think I could cook an egg on them! However, the swelling is frustrating, and I was thinking of getting compression socks, but was worried that it would cause me to have Raynaud's, since compression has always been a trigger for me with that. I think I am going to give it a try though after reading your advice, knowing that you also have Raynaud's.