Question:
How long do I have to wear these white hose that they put on in the hospital?

They keep slipping down and bunch up at my knees and I think that would be worse than not wearing them at all. I'm 2 days post op with my lap band surgery.    — Mary U. (posted on August 14, 2003)

August 14, 2003
As long as you are up and walking around, take the darned things off. I had the thigh high ones on (actually on before surgery) and took them off before I got dressed to go home from the hospital and never put them back on. If you have fat legs (and who here doesn't (or didn't)?) I think they cause more constrictions by rolling down and bunching. They even cut my husband's down to the knee. He went home the day after his RNY so he took his off and we threw them away before he left the hospital.
   — koogy

August 14, 2003
other than compression socks (the plastic ones that filled with air and pulsed) that I wore while in bed in the hospital, I never had to wear any hose. Interesting...
   — [Deactivated Member]

August 14, 2003
I had to wear mine for four weeks. I was only allowed to take them off to wash either them or me. One of the major risks with this surgery is pulmonary embolism, and my surgeon was exceedingly cautious. I HATED them, but I wore them until he said I could stop. THEN I burned them! ;)
   — Dragon G.

August 14, 2003
Mary - please ask this question to your doctor. Only he/she can answer it for you. I have had surgery in the past where I had to wear the stockings for a week afterward, and other surgeries where I didn't - each case was different. The decision was based on whatever my current edema issues were and the potential of blood clots. No one on this site knows your current condition better than your Doc.
   — M B.