With a baby on the way, a woman’s pregnant body undergoes a lot of changes - and some of them can be downright unpleasant. A percentage of expecting women experience leg pain and swelling in their feet and ankle (also known as edema) as the third trimester comes in—and this is when pregnancy compression socks are considered lifesavers.
If you are having second thoughts whether to invest in them or not, here we laid out the benefits of compression socks during pregnancy to help you make your decision fast:
Benefits of wearing compression socks while pregnant
Your growing uterus puts pressure on your veins and slows down your blood flow. When this happens, blood pools in your feet and legs which causes them to swell. What compression socks do is to apply pressure to your legs and ankles to promote blood flow from your heart to your lower extremities.
2 Helps with Varicose Veins
As your uterus expands, the large vein on the right side of your body or vena cava is put on a great pressure that contributes to the development of swollen veins (usually blue or purple). They bulge near the surface of your skin and usually show up on your legs, which makes them feel heavy and painful. If you’re on your feet a lot during the day, your legs will feel worse at night.
While there can be a lot of ways to help in mitigating swollen veins, maternity compression socks may help in reducing the pain and swelling as they squeeze into your legs and lower the chance of varicose veins from forming by pumping blood from your legs back to your heart and promoting blood circulation.
Varicose veins might go away or improve a few months after giving birth, especially if it is your first baby and might take longer if you’ve had multiple pregnancies. If they feel too uncomfortable for you, you can always check with your healthcare provider what are your treatment options.
3 Pain Relief
The swelling will mostly intensify as the third trimester comes, that’s why doctors may advise expecting women to bed rest and have their legs elevated as often as possible. If you are overweight or you carry twins, or you sit or stand all day for work, expect that pain in your legs will become worse. Having the best pregnancy compression socks is your go-to solution to make it a bit easier for you during this time.
4 Reduces Swelling
A pregnant woman’s body produces more blood and fluids to support the growing baby which then leads to swelling. It is considered normal during pregnancy, but only to a certain extent. Maternity compression socks can help prevent blood from refluxing downward to the feet and reduce swelling by gently squeezing the legs.
5 Lowers the Chance of DVT
Pregnant women are at a high risk of developing deep vein thrombosis or DVT. This occurs when a blood clot is formed in a deep vein due to increased blood volume. Due to hormonal changes during pregnancy, there can be an increased blood coagulability— which means blood clots can form easier. DVT can seriously affect your pregnancy and health if it leads to pulmonary embolism—when the blood clots break off from vein walls and are lodged to the lungs, leading to organ damage and even death.
Although blood clots are rare, there are steps you can take to minimize your risk of experiencing them during your pregnancy. Aside from keeping a healthy lifestyle and staying active, pregnancy compression socks may help in lowering this possibility by putting pressure that stops the blood from pooling and clotting. If you feel that you might be at risk of DVT, make sure to notify your healthcare provider.
Resources: socksaddict.com, brightlifedirect.com, Compression Care Center, Ameswalker.com, americanpregnancy.org