Staying Fit
AARP (Source: Vim & Vigr)
Before my mother’s Parkinson’s disease advanced, she was a very active person. Even when she began requiring a walker and then a wheelchair, she loved going for exercise walks (while I held her gait belt) and doing chair-based aerobics classes.
After an extended hospitalization and transition to rehab, my family made the difficult decision to move our mom into a memory care facility, because a traditional nursing home wouldn’t have been equipped to handle her dementia. With a small, overworked and constantly rotating staff, my mother rarely received any exercise, and her ankles and lower legs quickly began swelling. I thought compression socks might help, and I was right, although I Iearned that my mom needed different ones from the kinds I wear.
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Betsy Grunch, M.D., a Georgia-based neurosurgeon, says that compression socks are “important for patients who have issues with poor circulation or swelling in their legs” because “weak circulation can lead to pooling of the blood in your legs, which could increase the chances of a blood clot.” Grunch adds that a backup of fluid into the soft tissues of the legs can also cause leg swelling, heaviness and fatigue. This is exactly what my mom was experiencing.
According to Grunch, you don’t need a prescription to buy socks with relatively low levels of compression, but socks with higher compression levels do require one, since certain contraindications may put a person at risk. A prescription can assist in finding the right type of sock for a specific need.
- Put on the socks first thing in the morning, when legs are less swollen.
- Pull the socks up the leg gently, smoothing the fabric as you go. Make sure the seams are straight and the heels are in the correct spot.
- Use talcum powder on the legs to make the socks go on more smoothly. If you use lotion, be certain that it’s dry before putting the stockings on.
- Make sure the socks are smooth, especially at the ankle and behind the knee. Don’t fold the stockings down if they seem too long.
As a frequent traveler, I own many pairs of compression socks, which I wear while flying. I took several pairs to my mom’s apartment, but I couldn’t fit any of them over her swollen feet. So I began trying different brands and styles from various local and online retailers to see what would work best for her.
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