Compression Clothing – Do They Work for Men Over 50

Compression as a medical procedure can trace its history back to early Egyptian and Roman time periods. The earliest use of compression clothing, most predominately (and for our purposes in this blog) were the knee-length “stockings”, prescribed for poor circulation and treatment of venous conditions like varicose veins and deep vein thrombosis.

Fast forward to today and compression garments enjoy endorsements by superstar athletes for their purported health benefits and quicker recovery times in daily workouts. The marketplace for compression garments hasn’t complained; estimates are the industry will surpass the $3 billion-dollar mark in under a decade. Advancements in design and manufacturing allow for a compression garment for any body part from arms, legs, torso and everything in between. The pressing question though is: “Do they work?”

What Is Compression Clothing and How Do They Work?

As we said earlier, compression garments have medical benefits in improving blood flow throughout your body’s muscular network. In general, when you exercise, your body has many processes that take place and interact to help you sustain and/or improve your health, your strength, and your abilities.
Aerobic systems of the body help your body use and manage its oxygen supply through skeletal muscle blood flow and muscle contractions experienced during your workout. Even during the recovery phase, your body is working to regulate its internal systems.

As with men 50 and over, we can overdo it and fall back on the tried-and-true RICE mnemonic: Rest, Ice, Compress and Elevate. Of the four, compression has found its niche in celebrity status but realistically works. The pressure increases your blood flow which carries more oxygen to the muscles and tissues and helps improve performance, manage minor aches and pains and relieve swelling.

Compression Clothing And Elastic Wraps
Compression garments includes many types of clothing that can help the body in everything from exercise and sport, to quality of life, to maternity. They offer various sleeves for the ankle, calf, knee, wrist, and elbow as well as core bands for back support, full lower and upper body pants and shirts, socks and even undergarments.

There are quite a few brands to choose from, the most marketed presence is those of Tommie Copper, a line of compression clothing created by Tom Kallish who was in search of something to ease his arthritis pain. The company offers the full range of garments but for those willing to wrap on their own, ACE elastic bandages also provide compression effects and can isolate areas to the user’s preference. Be careful though not to tighten the wrap too tight and always follow your doctor’s advice on bandage use.(Note – Tommy Copper and ACE Elastic Bandages are NOT affiliates of The55Lifestyle.com. We offer the company names for informational use only.)

Copper and Compression Clothing
Like compression, copper has been used for centuries by many populations and cultures. The Sumerians used copper for medical purposes in about 4000 to 2300 B.C. Ancient Egyptians to cure eye infections and heal wounds, Babylonian-Assyrian populations for healing wounds and illnesses. Ancient Indian and Chinese cultures used copper for medical treatments, skin and eye diseases, and infections. The Greeks used copper was to purify water and help with arthritis.

Obviously copper is beneficial for many purposes. Found in the body naturally in bones, muscles, skin, bone marrow, liver, and the brain, it has potent biocidal properties meaning that copper can help to heal the body and reduce pain and discomfort. It plays an important role in the body’s physiological and metabolic processes and can improve skin health by improving collagen and elastin production, which is important as we age since these two factors decline with aging leading to weaker skin and wrinkles.

By using compression clothing with copper, you may experience a multitude of health benefits. For instance, copper can help with athlete’s foot, help with odor and microbial control in textiles and solid surfaces, reducing spreading of germs and infections in medical settings, just to list a few. By killing microorganisms that could damage products or that are harmful to the human body, copper damages the microorganisms and then kills them thus leading to greater health and longevity.

Conclusion

Studies have shown that compression clothing may help in exercise and endurance. Runners, for example, have demonstrable yields in energy levels for longer periods of time. Because It helps manage the body’s use of oxygen during exercise, control the inflammation from the stress of training by supporting muscle blood flow, compression paired with copper is a great combination in reducing fatigue and soreness.

Without argument, the body’s natural healing abilities are amazing. With copper and compression clothing, you can experience greater health, symptom relief from various health conditions, improved blood flow and muscle strength, and gain greater benefits from your workouts. But as men age, the opportunity to employ any advantage in getting us to our fitness goals should be pursued! We hope that you’ve found some useful information in this blog and wish you the most success in your workouts. Please check out our other blogs on health & fitness for men 50 and over here.

REFERENCES USED IN THE RESEARCH OF THE BLOG

• Baker, J. S., McCormick, M. C., & Robergs, R. A. (2010). Interaction among Skeletal Muscle Metabolic Energy Systems during Intense Exercise. Journal of nutrition and metabolism, 2010, 905612. doi:10.1155/2010/905612
• Borkow G. (2014). Using Copper to Improve the Well-Being of the Skin. Current chemical biology, 8(2), 89–102. doi:10.2174/2212796809666150227223857
• Engel, F.A., Holmberg, HC. & Sperlich, B. Sports Med (2016) 46: 1939. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-016-0546-5
• Mizuno, S., Arai, M., Todoko, F., Yamada, E., & Goto, K. (2017). Wearing lower-body compression garment with medium pressure impaired exercise-induced performance decrement during prolonged running. PloS one, 12(5), e0178620. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0178620
• Scott C. (2005). Misconceptions about Aerobic and Anaerobic Energy Expenditure. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 2(2), 32–37. doi:10.1186/1550-2783-2-2-32
• Sperlich, B., Born, D. P., Kaskinoro, K., Kalliokoski, K. K., & Laaksonen, M. S. (2013). Squeezing the muscle: compression clothing and muscle metabolism during recovery from high intensity exercise. PloS one, 8(4), e60923. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0060923