Compression garment - is 12 hours/day enough?

Hi All,

Just did the lower half 5 weeks ago.  I've been wearing a compression garment for the past two weeks.  It goes from mid-calf to rib cage.

I wear it about 12 hours a day.  That's all I can seem to handle.  The garment is "crotchless" and it has a fit problem for me -- either the crotch is too low (like with panty hose that are too small) so my upper inner thighs don't get compressed, OR I pull it up higher and tighter, in which case my feet/ankles swell horribly.  In other words, danged uncomfortable, damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Is 12 hours a day enough?  For how long post op does one need to use a compression garment?  How can you tell if you are swollen  or not?

Any thoughts appreciated.

Julie

wear it as long as you can stand it plus 4 hrs, the best time is as long as you can wear it, then sleep, then remove it, and air yourself. repeat, the compression garment is teaching your skin to seal, so the scar if flat, if you don't wear it enough you will have ridges that will never fade. this is a VERY IMPORTANT TIME

Jonathan

I'm wearing mine continuously except for about 2 hr for my shower and a little breathing & scratching time!

I wore mine 24 /7 for about 4 months ...that was 3 years ago ,,,my tummy is still as flat as a board thank goodness ...
It sure was a pain in the butt but my surgeon said the longer i did the better the outcome .
Try a different brand maybe ,,,,i did as they arent all the same ...

Thanks for letting me know. 

Question -- the compression garments that you wore practically all day for months -- were they stage 1 or stage 2?

I just ordered a stage 2 garment.  I'm thinking that the stage 1 one is more uncomfortable, and I also suspect that the stage 1 garment I have is one size too small.  I'm hoping the new garment fits better and doesn't make my feet and ankles swell up so horribly.

Julie

I wore my stage 1 for 13 weeks post op and it was very comfortable.  I tried a stage 2 but didn't like having to pull it up over tender incisions.

Laura

edited to add...I wore it 24/7 except for shower time.

You compression garment just might not fit properly.

Try www.marenagroup.com or www.designveronique.com.  Both have excellent options for Stage 1 and Stage 2 garments.  My initial garment wasn't a good fit so my surgeon purchased me another one from design veronique.