I had several years of recurring injuries and would have tried tried anything I thought could help. I was offered a few pairs of CEP compression socks and because I totally dig Paula Radcliffe (and as I said would try ANYTHING to help my running), I was game to try them. I found that they helped keep my mind off my hamstring issues and kept my calves from cramping. I was SOLD.
Then, mid 2011, I experienced some cardiovascular issues and pains in my right leg and it turned out that I had a DVT. This is a LONG story for another day, but one of the long term consequences of having a clot behind my knee is that I had to give up my compression socks! But, I did get some awesome medical grade compression leg sleeves to help with the swelling and to use when traveling, standing for long periods or for run recovery from CEP’s parent company Medi USA.
The other good news is that the husband’s cousin works for Medi and hooked me up with the CEP Marketing Director who send me a BUNCH of stuff for people to try and for me to give away! Yay. So… I had 3 friends try one product each: CEP Cooling Sleeves, CEP Compression Socks and Mediven Comfort Medical Compression stockings. (Reviews below the give away.)
The Give Away!
How to enter:
Required: Please leave a comment on this post and tell me what you are training for, or your fitness goal this year and/or something that motivates you to meet your goals (running or otherwise).
Optional for Additional Entry: Share this post on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest or whatever social media platform you belong to (make sure to include a link to the post)! Please leave a comment with the link you shared or the link to the tweet! If you share on Twitter, please include CEP’s twitter handle: @CEPCompression and if you share on FB include CEP Compression’s fan page. (Also, see bottom of post for how to enter CEP Compression’s “Pair a Day Giveaway”.)
Giveaway Details:
> You have 2 possible entries.
> Contest runs through Tuesday, 1/15.
> I will choose 3 winners via random.org’s “True Random Number Generator” on Wednesday 1/16.
> I will choose 3 winners. The first person can choose the item she/he wants and then the second and third.
Based on the VERY positive reviews from my triathlete and runner friends below, I think you should enter NOW. Don’t believe me? See for yourself! The reviews:
> From Florida based Iron Man triathlete and running/tri coach – Bryan – “Thank you for sending the CEP Cooling sleeves!!! I wore them both biking and running and felt they were GREAT. They retained NO moisture and certainly seemed to have a “COOLING” effect. Furthermore, providing sun protection in the Florida heat was great as well.
Thanks again as I was very pleased with the product, quality and fit.“
Upon receiving them, I noticed there was a size marked on the box (III) with a coordinating range of calf circumference measurements. I whipped out a tape measurer and confirmed that I was in the right range. Inside the box I found helpful instructions (including illustrations!) for getting the socks on. The typical stick-your-foot-in-and-pull-up-sock method wouldn’t work so well, but the suggested method (which involves turning the sock inside-out) was quite effective. I like to look at the lines of the sock once they’re on to be sure my Achilles is in the right place, etc., then adjust as necessary.
Once the socks were on, I was pleased to find that foot part is a comfy, “normal” sock; the compression is reserved for the calves. Nice. Time to hit the road!
At first the socks felt rather warm, but after a little while I stopped noticing or thinking about it. During my run, I found them to be comfortable in a squeezy way; not too hot, tight, or binding feeling at all.
As for the effects– my legs feel great! I’ve worn the socks for a long(-ish) run, a couple of races, and some track workouts. Each time, I’ve felt good while running and haven’t been sore or uncomfortable afterwards. It seems the socks live up to the hype! Thanks Erica and CEP– I’m now a believer and am looking forward to wearing the socks (and feeling the benefits) for many more miles.”
“I have a confession to make: I am mildly obsessed with compression socks. I blame Erica. See, I had never worn compression wear of any kind prior to running the Indy marathon this past fall (the one in which Erica so wonderfully paced me to a huge PR). I had always been fascinated by them, but like a good scientist, I had approached the concept of actually wearing compression socks with a healthy dose of skepticism. Before I tried them, I had poured over articles dissecting their effectiveness and devoured an abundance of studies proving their statistically-dubious merits. My mind filled with a useless tidal wave of factoids and inconclusive research. I remained solidly on the fence.
Then came Erica and the Indianapolis Marathon.
Erica offered to lend me a pair of compression stockings for the drive back to Chicago in exchange for writing a review of the product for her blog. It was my first time running a marathon then having to hop in a car and sit, stationary, for several hours directly afterwards. My over-active imagination paired with all that useless research into the merits of compression and race recovery had me convinced that compression socks were the only way to avoid certain peril on the long, sedentary drive home. I happily agreed.
The stockings in question are the Mediven Comfort medical compression stockings. They come in three levels of compression: Mild, moderate or firm medical compression. The pair I wore are moderate rating (20-30 mmHg, “for leg fatigue and heaviness, moderate spider veins, and pronounced varicose veins”). They have an open toe, but extend from the ball of the foot all the way to top of the thigh. These are designed for general use; that is, they are not specifically designed for sports. They provide uniform, all-around compression without the targeted “squeeze” areas like you see in your typical compression socks targeted to endurance athletes.
Style:
I never thought I’d say this, but the Mediven Comfort stockings are kind of hot. For compression socks, at least. [E: Funny, I call them my “hot”, too, but only in jest – like “I have orthopedic stockings AND a mouth guard!] I wore a jet-black, open-toe pair that extend all the way up to thigh and end in a 2” faux-lace elastic band. Now, I realize the faux lace was entirely functional – they’re disguising a pretty industrial piece of rubber meant to grip your skin and keep the stocking from rolling down your thigh – but this was a pretty awesome example of form meeting function. It’s almost like an orthopedic company hired a Victoria’s Secret lingerie designer to do a capsule collection. The result is equal parts baffling and intriguing. The heavy, polyaminde/elasthane fabric says: “I’m 3 weeks post-knee replacement.” But, from the thigh up it says: “I’ve got my daddy’s car, a fake ID and the stamina of a 20 year old endurance athlete.” These are the Helen Mirren of compression stockings: clearly targeted to an older generation but still kind of sexy. I may or may not have considered wearing garters with these bad boys.
Fit:
A quick study of the size chart left me slightly baffled. There are three measurement points along the leg used for sizing: Ankle, Calf, and ‘Panty, Thigh & Thigh w/silicone’. Now, my degree is in physics, not anatomy, but I’m pretty sure that “panty” is not an anatomical part one can measure. I am aware I have two thighs, but I have it on good authority that they’re fairly identical to one another. And the “thigh w/silicone”? Was that just for wearers who’d had plastic surgery? Not to be deterred, I decided to go out on a limb, measure one thigh and soldier on. Oddly, I was right in line with the thigh and calf measurements, but my ankle measurements were a full 2.5” smaller than the chart indicated. Again, I was baffled. I made the mistake of mentioning this disparity to my (very) pregnant sister. When I tried to paint a picture of what a ridiculous-looking body shape one must have to fit that size profile, she very kindly reminded me that the women of my family tend to expand radially from all surfaces during pregnancy and that I may very well find myself fitting each of those measurements at some point in my life (thankyouverymuch). I quit laughing. (on closer inspection of the packaging, I noticed there is, indeed, a pregnant model pictured on the back.) This also served as a reminder that the Mediven Comfort stockings were designed for general medical use and are not sports-recovery specific. The stockings certainly didn’t pool up or bag around my ankle or foot, but there was noticeably less compression in those areas. The stockings also run exceptionally long. I’m fairly tall (5’9”) and long-legged, but still had barely enough leg to fit the whole stocking. The top end of the extended clear up my thigh leg to a point that is debatable that it could still be considered my thigh. Any longer and it would have started interfering with bend in my hip. I can’t imagine anyone shorter trying to wear the standard length. [E: I am only 5’4″ but have a more muscular build than Liv (and “normal” ankles) and I wear the same size. They do come up too high, so I fold the band over one time. Petite would probably be better but this is not a deal breaker.] Mediven does offer a petite size that I would strongly recommend for anyone short or of average height.
Function:
The actual compression portion of the program is where the Mediven Comfort stocking deviates the most from the sports-specific compression socks. They give a nice, consistent squeeze to the leg as a whole, but as a runner, I was disappointed they didn’t target muscle groups specifically. As a general, day-to-day use stocking to keep your legs feeling fresh or to ward off fatigue or blood clots during long flights, the Mediven Comfort tights are the way to go. They’re breathable enough to be comfortable wearing for long periods of time and the long length and silkiness of the fabric make the slide easily and discretely under clothes. (I wore them under trousers at work and didn’t have any issues with the pant legs catching on the stocking and bunching up.) I wouldn’t turn to the Mediven Comfort stockings post-race; they don’t give a tight enough compression in the critical areas to feel any sort of acute recovery. I also found myself really wishing the stockings weren’t open toe. With every other part of my leg getting a nice, solid squeeze, my toes kind of felt left out of the party. The open-toe coupled with the strange sizing through the ankle and foot let me feeling like I had little to no compression at all from the ankle down.
Verdict:
The Mediven Comfort compression stockings are a good, reliable go-to when your legs are feeling sluggish and in need of a pick me up. They look surprisingly stylish (in their own way) and are light and comfortable enough to be worn for long periods of time. (I wore them to sleep and also wore them for the majority of the day at work). They are comfort food for your legs. If you’re an athlete and are looking for a more intense compression that targets your muscles after a hard workout or race, you’d do better reaching for a pair of stockings that are designed specifically for that purpose.”
The verdicts are all good! Get in there for a chance to win!
Also, Like the CEP Compression page on Facebook and enter the “Pair a Day Giveaway”. They are giving away one pair a day through March 6th! Remember, you have to be in it to win it!
(Please Note: The reviewed items and give-aways were provided by CEP Compression and MediUSA at no cost to me. The opinions here are mine and those of the testers. None of us have been compensated for these reviews.)