Compression boots work by using air pressure to control the blood circulation in your legs.
“As each chamber in the boots fills with air and compresses more tightly, it prevents a large amount of blood from circulating through that part of your body,” says Samuel. “So when the boots tighten around your feet first and then your calves, your blood flow to those areas is limited. As this compression continues around your entire leg, you’re left with even more limited blood flow. But just a moment after all that, the chambers methodically deflate, permitting blood to travel first into your thighs, then down through your lower legs, then into your feet.”
The theory behind this practice is the onrush of blood will help bring nutrients to help your legs recover efficiently, but this has not been proven for fact.
“There is conflicting evidence that compression devices aid in long term muscle recovery from delayed onset muscle soreness,” according to Dr. Sanchez. “However, there has been research that suggests short term relief from exercise induced muscle damage.”
Despite the lack of proof, the gentle squeezing of the leg muscles can feel relaxing—even massage-like at times.
To ensure your blood circulation doesn’t get cut off TheraBody and Normatec have capped their devices to only reach specific amounts of pressure (measured in mmHG). So as long as you properly place the boots on your legs and use them for the time settings given, your risk of injury is low. Just make sure if you’re new to using compression boots you start with the lowest setting first with short periods of time. Then, as you get more comfortable with using your compression boots, you can play with the higher mmHG levels and time settings.
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