Elastic socks can make your legs look slimmer, but by compressing muscles and reducing edema, your leg circumference will be smaller, but this has nothing to do with slimming and burning fat. Want to lose weight or find another way?
Someone has really studied this phenomenon. The researchers observed the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of a 25-year-old healthy woman's legs before and after wearing elastic socks, and measured the thickness and pressure of various tissues. They found that after wearing elastic socks, the thickness of fat tissue in the legs hardly changed, while the thickness of muscle tissue decreased significantly (by 3 cm). It seems that the pressure of elastic socks does not act on adipose tissue, but on the reduction of the volume of deep muscle tissue. In fact, adipose tissue also plays a certain pressure buffering role.
In addition, the external force exerted by elastic socks will also promote blood circulation, reduce the edema of the legs, and also limit the girth of the legs to some extent. For people who stand or sit for a long time, the blood circulation in the lower limbs slows down and the blood stays in the lower limbs, which leads to the increase of venous blood pressure. Water loves to run from plasma to cells, causing edema of lower limbs. Elastic socks can alleviate this situation.
Therefore, the "stovepipe" effect of elastic socks is mainly achieved by compressing muscle volume and reducing edema. Can elastic socks burn fat to achieve long-term stovepipe effect?
Elastic socks can shrink the leg circumference without burning fat.
Although I haven't found the relevant research report on whether wearing elastic socks for a long time will make the legs thinner, from the basic medical knowledge, elastic socks have absolutely no function of burning fat.
Perhaps some readers who have worn elastic socks will ask, since they can't burn fat, why do they feel hot after wearing them?
In fact, abundant or accelerated blood supply will produce a feeling of fever, just like after exercise, the head and hands with relatively little physical activity will also feel fever.
You know, if the blood return velocity (2 cm/s) of lower limbs is 100% when lying flat, it will reach 120% when walking, 160% when toes move, and 190% when full-foot moves (because lower limb muscles dominate the activities of toes and ankles). 250% when the lower limbs are raised by 20 degrees, and 370% when the lower limbs are raised by 90 degrees. If both feet move at the same time, it can reach 440%. When supported by elastic fabric, it can reach 180%.
Elastic socks promote blood flow from body surface to deep veins (veins between muscles), which is equivalent to increasing blood supply to communicating branches (small blood vessels and capillaries). Coupled with the accelerated blood circulation in the lower limbs, the feeling of fever is not uncommon. But that doesn't mean your fat is burning. Wearing tight autumn trousers can also have this feeling, but it is not as obvious as elastic socks.
Congenital deficiency, acquired destruction, varicose veins
As we all know, this kind of elastic leg socks was born to treat varicose veins. But why do good veins have varicose veins? In fact, varicose veins are not only related to the weak vein wall caused by congenital factors, but also related to our daily body posture.
As the saying goes: Man struggles upwards, but water flows downwards. When people change from lying flat to standing upright, the blood pressure of blood vessels in the legs will increase obviously, and the blood pressure at the ankles can increase by about 90 mm Hg, and the blood flow velocity of the lower limbs is only 60% at rest.
Therefore, if people with naturally fragile vein walls stand/sit for a long time, the blood flow speed of lower limbs will slow down, allowing venous blood to accumulate in lower limbs, thus inducing varicose veins.
Is 480D elastic socks more stressful than 420D elastic socks?
In order to treat varicose veins, elastic socks adopt a special knitting method to obtain this kind of socks with gradually decreasing pressure (pressure gradient) from ankle to thigh. Patients with varicose veins can use the external pressure exerted by elastic socks on their legs to resist the accumulation of blood.
The main materials of elastic socks are silk, cotton, nylon and rubber (providing elastic source), which are generally divided into two categories:
A large category is ordinary elastic socks, which are mostly circular knitted, with low pressure and beautiful appearance. This kind of elastic socks can be bought without a doctor's prescription because the ankle pressure does not exceed 20 mm Hg.
Another big category is medical elastic socks, which are also called varicose socks because they are mostly used to treat varicose veins of lower limbs. Parallel knitting can produce more pressure, but the appearance is not good. According to the pressure at the ankle, it is divided into four grades: 18-2 1 mm Hg, 23-32 mm Hg, 34-46 mm Hg, and above 50 mm Hg, which respectively correspond to different degrees of venous diseases of lower limbs. Except for the level of 18-2 1mm Hg, all others need a doctor's prescription.
The D of 480D or 420D, which is often seen on elastic socks/leg socks sold in the market, is the abbreviation of Denier, indicating the quality of a fiber every 9000 meters. In layman's terms, it is the thickness of socks. The bigger the number before d, the thicker the socks are, which is not necessarily related to the pressure of socks.
Will elastic socks harm our health?
A few days ago, a report that wearing elastic socks caused edema of lower limbs made the majority of beauty-loving women reflect on the safety of elastic socks.
In theory, the maximum pressure of elastic socks available in the market will not exceed 20 mm Hg. I haven't found a reliable basis for other side effects except inconvenient and uncomfortable wearing and taking off. Moreover, the pressure dispersion of elastic socks is relatively uniform, which generally does not cause the adverse consequences of limb necrosis. (Editor's Note: If you blindly pursue high pressure or wear it for a long time, or buy inferior products, it may lead to adverse consequences. )
However, the edge of rolled socks will increase local pressure, which may close local veins, form thrombosis and even limb necrosis. Because the degree of pressure increase is unknown, if the edge of socks is easy to roll off, it is best to use garters to ensure the edge is flat. If there is discomfort and swelling of the lower limbs, you should take off your socks in time and seek medical advice in time.
In addition, I would like to remind you that elastic socks are only an auxiliary way to prevent varicose veins and edema, and you don't have to pursue high pressure and comfort blindly.
A little knowledge about elastic socks
People who stand or sit for a long time can use ordinary elastic socks for health care.
Elastic socks can promote the blood circulation of lower limbs, increase the metabolic efficiency of muscles, take away metabolites in time, and reduce the fatigue of legs. Therefore, for people who need to stand for a long time and those whose legs are prone to edema, ordinary elastic socks can be purchased for health care purposes.
Don't wear elastic socks when sleeping.
Some researchers recruited some men with mild sleep breathing problems and asked them to wear elastic socks while sleeping. The results showed that wearing elastic socks increased the amount of blood flowing back to the heart, increased the blood filling degree of the neck and aggravated the difficulty of breathing at night. Therefore, people who are slightly fat, snore and have been diagnosed with sleep-disordered breathing should try to avoid wearing elastic socks when sleeping.
In addition, wearing elastic socks while sleeping will further increase blood circulation and increase the burden on the heart.