Fibromyalgia Support Hose Stockings

About Fibromyalgia

Do you hurt all over and feel tired all the time, but no tests really find anything wrong with you? Here are some of the symptoms of fibromyalgia:

• Pain in muscles, ligaments and tendons
• Endless fatigue
• Tender spots where the smallest amount of pressure can be painful
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
• Head/face pain
• Sensitivity to light, sound, smell, etc.
• Depression/anxiety/moodiness
• Dry skin, eyes and mouth
• Trouble concentrating
• Dizziness
• Painful menstruation (fibromyalgia is more common in women than men)

Sound like you? It may be a path worth exploring. Speak with your health care provider, but in the meantime, try fibromyalgia support hose stockings to ease your pain in your legs.

Help from Fibromyalgia Support Hose Stockings

Fibromyalgia wreaks havoc on the body—physically and emotionally. In most cases, fibromyalgia sufferers experience a drop in blood pressure and dizziness, which cause them to feel as if they may faint. Anything to help the circulation of the blood is a positive in combating the side effects of the disease. That's where the support hose come in to help.

Support hose will assist the blood flow from your legs back into your upper body. That in itself should make you more comfortable in easing your pain, dizziness and even soreness. They offer more compression at the bottom than at the top in order to efficiently push the blood upward.

You can opt for support hose you can purchase in department stores or you can shop for medical support hose. The ones you get from the department stores won't usually offer the same amount of support as the medical ones. If you're looking to experiment, though, that may be the way to go for starters.

Seeking Support

It seems that there aren't many pairs of support hose specifically deemed ideal for fibromyalgia sufferers. That doesn't stand to say that they don't exist. Try regular support hose. You'll do best with thigh-or-waist-high hose rather than the ones that hit below the knee. Here are a few places online to look:

• Support Plus offers medical support hos, which means you get more graduated support and compression than the average brands. Whether you need mild or very firm support, you can find what you're looking for here. It is suggested that you talk to your doctor first before opting for firm support stockings.

• Healthy Legs allows you to shop online by brand if you have one in mind. There are also tons of great articles about support hose, leg health and more.

• Activa Hosiery has everything from support socks to full pantyhose. Take your pick!

Measuring for Support Hose

Seems odd that you would need to do more measuring than to determine small, medium, large, etc, for support hose, huh? With medical support hose especially, there's more to it than that (though those sizing charts do still come into play!).

First, there's an mm/Hg reading on the medical support hose. That number tells you how much compression is around the ankle. As you may have suspected, the greater the number, the greater the pressure. Depending on the size of your ankle, the pressure will be greater or lower within the mm/Hg range given. Smaller ankles will experience less pressure than larger ankles within the same hose. That's why the number is given in a range.

Measure your legs first thing in the morning before they have a chance to swell. You need the circumference of your leg, which you can find using a tape measure. Measure the smallest part of your ankle, the fullest part of your calf, and from the sole of the foot to the knee. Then measure the fullest part of your thigh and the distance from the floor to right below your buttocks.

Measurement charts should be available with support hose where this number applies.