Tuesday, July 7, 2009

The Recovery Sock

"Compression" shows up commonly in medical conversations. It's uses have been well known for more years than even I have. Compression prevents, or at least significantly reduces, venous stasis (blood pooling in areas where you don't want blood to pool). It, in other words, promotes healthy circulation. The use of compression in athletics to encourage healthy blood flow and thereby reduce lactic acid buildup and, more than likely, increase performance to some degree is relatively new technology. Enter the Recovery Sock (http://recoverysock.com) and I wore a pair on my last adventure. They are padded in the high impact areas, and the compression they provide decreases gradually, and appropriately, from toe toward knee. It has literally been years since my feet have felt as good after a bout of use. Some of you know I have a fused ankle, and a puffy right foot and ankle are among the prices I pay for staying on the trail. I removed the socks each night to find a greatly reduced amount of swelling. Do they do what they claim to do? I can't say for sure about everything, but I can say that Recovery Socks will be on my feet in the foreseeable future. They are pricey at about $35 per pair, but the benefits as I see them are worth the dough.

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