The compression garments is an external physical aid, embracing the limb. Garments may be ready made, or made to measure. It is important that they fit well as they  are an important part of the total treatment of the swollen lower limb.

As the garments is perfectlv fitted to the limb it provides external support and strength to the skin and subcutaneous tissues. In this wav it prevents an increase in tissue swelling. Garments should be put on before the patients gets up, after which gravity would cause an increase in pressure and lead to increased filtration. Garments should be used as soon as MLB has been completed. The skin will graduallv retract.

The containment garment is in many cases an essential and indispensable help to maintain the volume decrease obtained during the therapy.

In a previous publication we explained how the containment garment works ( 9 ).

By increasing the tissue pressure it decreases the filtration. Although the permanent containment garment is necessary in many cases, it is also true that the patient very often does not tolerate the stocking very well.
 

To be efficient garments must embrace the whole lower limb, and by doing so the stocking causes many technical  problems.  It must embrace the foot and ascend up to the groin causing pressure on the tissues, i.e. the garment must tighten.  Hence the patient can have some difficulties to put it on. The pressure exerted by the garment has to be higher at footlevel  than more provimal at thighlevel. In other words the stocking must adapt the form of the limb, i.e. the edema, and as we know  that the distribution of an edema rarely or never is equal, the garment must be based on very exact measurements. 

Wearing the garment the knee has to move freely. Many times patients suffer from irritation in the pit of the knee. If we take a good look at it, we will see that the skin is slightly injured, provoking an inflammatory focus that can aggravate the edema. 
We mentioned the garment should ascend up to the groin, but how do we manage to maintain it there without pinching and  thus hindering the circulation of return ?

The orthotist made us a garment fixed on the pants, thus a whole of pants and garment(s) (= panty). One can imagine how many measurements are to be taken to reach the ideal solution, well tolerated by the patient. 

The patient may find it difficult to tolerate wearing compression hosiery during hot weather. The patient needs to understand  that it is at these times that the garment will be most useful, because of the increased  swelling that may be  experienced in the summer. Ideally they should get used to the hosiery during cooler weather. 

We suggest that the patient should be measured for the garment after the first ten treatments as the oedema will already have reduced. Initially we ask the patient to wear the garment night and day. lf a good result has been obtained and the size of the limb remains stable then the patient is asked to leave the garment off for progressively longer periods of time. During this time the therapist will continue to monitor the outcome. At its most successful the result of this approach to treatment will mean that the patient will not have to continue to wear compression hosiery.