Compression Socks - Day 1

So I finally opened my pocket book and bought some compression socks. I just got them and I just put them on. I know my family knows about my lymph edema, but I'm not sure the general reader here may. So now you know. I was diagnosed with this last year or year before last or maybe longer than that. Can't really remember. My left leg has always been worse than my right leg and I've had all the scans and there is no clot present in either. I think it's a case of fatness and little activity. I had some thigh high compression socks but it was akin to wearing pantyhose which, in my opinion, are the most uncomfortable thing a woman can wear. Being a compression thigh high... you can imagine what it felt like to have the band of those things squeezing your thighs. It was torture and I couldn't stand having them on.

If you are not old like me you might not know that compression socks come in a variety of styles and compression amounts. I got the super duper strength. 30-40mmHg. And they were NOT easy to get on. I opted for the ugly looking ones since they were half the price of the fancy ones and since I have no plans to be showing them off.

When I put them on a while ago, I realized something I did not take into account when I ordered them. Had I gotten them yesterday I probably would not have thought about this at all until I put them on today. It's seriously a chore to get these on. I have not had my "pain pain" in a couple of weeks. Today one of my fingers has changed that. After getting them on, that same finger screamed at me. I can't repeat to you what it said, but it was NOT nice.

After wearing these things for about two hours now, the difference is already amazingly noticeable. They are comfortable enough that they don't seem to be bothering me one little bit. I can feel them... compressing. It's almost like a leg massage. Okay, not really, but it's nice to dream. I'm hoping to get to the point where I only wear them to work. I might not ever reach that stage, but again... it's nice to dream.

In the picture you can see that my lefty is worse than my righty. I chose open toed because I have only a little swelling in my feet area and the freedom of the toes seems to make these more tolerable as well. Only time will tell and I will be sure to tell you here.

New tube additions. Now it's THIS long:

And Cricket is loving it.