Once upon a time, approximately 10 years ago, I worked at a group home for adults with developmental disabilities. It was a pretty fun job. Most of our residents had certain “Occupational Goals” that we had to help them meet…such as walking in their walker for a certain amount of time, or spending time listening to a book.
Well, one day a physical therapist added a new occupational goal for one of our residents. This resident was to wear “compression socks” for a certain amount of time each day. I was the one who had brought this resident to the physical therapist appointment when this goal was assigned, and I was not impressed. I remember the physical therapist took very little time to actually interact with the resident, and I felt confused about what service she had actually provided. To have her add a goal of him wearing super expensive socks that were (as far as I could tell) just normal socks, made me particularly skeptical. I even remember asking the nurse what the socks were supposed to do, and she said something about how they were supposed to increase circulation. I remember just thinking, “Um, those are just ridiculously expensive socks, they’re not magic.” But the nurse and my supervisor insisted that these silly looking knee socks were quite important.
Enter March 2012, when I decided to run my first full marathon, and made more of an effort to learn about the sport.
I was surprised when on running blog after running blog I heard about “compression socks.” Oh great! It had moved beyond that crazy physical therapist in Minnesota, and now apparently the entire running world believed in these magic socks?
I was skeptical but curious…was it possible that socks could actually help with running? How were they supposed to help?
Then, Katie commented on a post I had written about my shins hurting, and suggested I address the issue with compression calf sleeves.
What? This compression stuff could help with my shin pain? Oh dang, now things are getting really crazy!
Well, I was really, really super curious after learning that, so I did some research and learned what compression socks could allegedly help with.
Again, I was curious, but still skeptical.
So, what’s an academic skeptic to do? Find a scholarly article that addresses the issue, of course! My research led me to a peer-reviewed (of course) article that indicates that compression does, in fact, help with running in a number of ways!
Oh my goodness, this isn’t about crazy people believing in magic socks! This is legitimate stuff here! I can’t wait to try a pair…after I stop hyperventilating about the price.
I was lucky enough to win a pair of CEP socks (they are close to 80 bucks a pair!!) They have made a diff in my recovery. And i love the funky colours. Check out their website, as the american site sells em for 60 a pair, but often has flash sales.
Aw! It would be amazing to win some! I broke down and bought some from Pro Compression, they were $20 off + free shipping with a coupon code. I can’t wait to try them out, and have them heal me forever.
Wow- Highlighted and everything!!!?? hahahahaha ❤ U
I highlighted it for you, so that you’d see the important stuff. See? That’s nice of me. I’m nice.