Last month I bought two pairs of graduated compression stocking.

My husband had just finished a month of injections in his stomach since he was diagnosed with Superficial Vein Thrombosis (a lighter version of Deep Vein Thrombosis which means one month of Heparin injections instead of three) and one of the first things the doctor told us was to buy a pair of compression stocking for men. “Make it two or three pair” he added “cause these little guys will become soon your husbands best friends”.

Yeah, after having the pleasant experience of being hospitalized for SVT, the doctor has made us understand that from now on, we had to make serious changes in our lifestyle. I speak in plural, cause any change for my husband, is a challenge for the whole family.

Going back to the socks: consistency is the key!

In order to truly benefit from the "superpowers" of the socks, My husband has been told to wear them BEFORE getting out of bed .

Yep. Just as a pregnant woman keeps her crackers on the nightstand waiting for her first bout of morning sickness, so my husband, along with his medicines keeps a pair of clean socks, to put on immediately after waking up. The doctor advised him to wear the socks as much as possible.

The only drawback is that even if we purchased the model "large", the socks are really tight (that’s the way they should be) and in the beginning was a bit of a torture for my husband who lives in a country with a very hot climate.

After a week told me that indeed, at the end of the day, he no longer had that sense of fatigue in his legs that he had initially.

In order to keep himself healthy, in addition to the socks my husband (and the whole family of course) had to change his eating habits. He was told to avoid (if possible at all): - Salt - Fatty and fried foods - Carbohydrates like pasta, bread and rice Of the three listed above, the most dangerous is the salt that can lead our arteries to dilate up to 50% and is responsible for heart attacks, strokes and pulmonary embolism. The best friend of our veins is Vitamin C. From now on we were to consume twice as much as in the past and include in our diet: - Fruits red, blue and purple (like cranberries, blueberries, strawberries, plumbs, etc.. The darker, the better) - vegetables like spinach and broccoli - Beef liver

Bottom line, in order to prevent serious diseases such as Deep VeinThrombosis and Varicose veins graduated compression socks are good but not enough. It is really important to combine them with a specific diet. Your legs will be thankful