What are the benefits of wearing compression foot sleeves? Are you a regular runner? Have you ever gotten out of bed in the morning, and felt a sudden sharp pain in your heels? That pain is caused by plantar fasciitis, a very common condition among runners. There are many ways of treating it, but the quickest, cheapest and easiest solution is to wear one of the best compression sleeves.
Many might be sceptical about the usefulness of these products, but I never met anybody who tried them out and didn’t feel the positive effects almost immediately. Runners often suffer of plantar fasciitis and compression socks or foot sleeves are excellent products for treating these diseases.
Compression foot sleeves or socks?
Although compression socks are excellent products, foot sleeves have a few big advantages over them:
- They are smaller: They can be worn even with the tightest shoes, under or over your socks. If you travel, foot sleeves take up less space in your suitcase. They are also easier and quicker to wash and dry out.
- They are less visible: Some runners don’t like the way compression socks look on them. Foot sleeves don’t go too much over your ankles. They are thin enough for a regular pair of socks to cover them.
- They are cheaper: While some compression socks can go for forty or fifty dollars, you can get great foot sleeves for ten bucks.
- They are easier to put on: Getting tight compression socks on your legs can be a hard and time consuming process. On the other hand foot sleeves are easy to apply.
This video about the BeVisible compression foot sleeves touches on many excellent points about why these products are essential:
What are the main reasons for wearing compression foot sleeves:
- Ankle injuries: The sleeves hold your feet and ankles tightly, thus providing a cradle-like environment.
- Plantar fasciitis: The best compression foot sleeves keep your feet stable, and the plantar fascia stretched. This provides a stable environment for healing.
- Short-term recovery: Compression sleeves can be worn for long times without intrusion. Wear them during the day underneath your socks or during the night in bed.
- Achilles tendon pains: Some sleeves reach over your ankles and cover your achilles tendons. These products help the blood flow quicker, thus reduce the inflammation in your tendons.
What are the important features?
Another great feature of compression foot sleeves is their simplicity. There are a lot of different features one has to take into account when choosing the best compression socks for running or the best compression leggings, but foot sleeves are easy to choose. Just look for the following things:
- A good, trusted brand.
- Firm arch and ankle support.
- Good levels of graduated foot and arch compression.
- Quality, well designed seams.
- Positive reviews.
- Thin design.
Let’s take a look at why these things are important.
Brand: Some companies offer excellent customer support. They answer all your questions about their products. Most companies even offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee. If you find that their product is not what you were looking for, they return your money, no questions asked.
Arch and ankle support: During the healing process from plantar fasciitis, the feet must stand with the correct angle. At the same time the plantar fascia has to move a little. This requires a very delicate balance from the sleeves. The arch and ankle support can not only increase the blood flow to the inflamed areas, thus reducing the inflammation, but also solidifies the feet and gives it a solid stance.
Graduated compression: This type of compression means that the bottom of the sleeves put the most compression on the feet, which slowly subsides as it gets higher up the feet. This is the ideal type of compression for increasing blood flow.
Well designed seams: If the seams are faulty, or ill-designed, they can cause skin burn, chaffing or blisters. The socks reviewed here all have great excellent seams, you won’t even notice them.
Positive reviews: The best products all have hundreds of reviews on Amazon. Positive reviews show that the shipping, product handling, the product itself and the costumer support were all great.
Design: Of course everybody wants to look fashionable and feel comfortable at the same time. One can wear sleeves during the day, at work, or just for running. In all settings the comfort and the looks can make or break a product.
Although we don’t know of any studies so far that looked at the effectiveness of compression foot sleeves in treating plantar fasciitis, but medical experts often recommend them as a part of the healing process. The reason behind this is the positive effects of compression technology, and the way in which compression garments hold the plantar fascia. It provides a stable environment, yet lets the ligament move and stretch just enough for optimal healing.
There are a number of runners who significantly improved their condition after wearing foot sleeves. Most were able to get rid of plantar fasciitis altogether.
What is plantar fasciitis?
Plantar fasciitis is the inflammation of the plantar fascia – a band of tissue that runs from the heels to the toes. Runners often feel sharp, pinching pain in their soles or their heels as a result of plantar fasciitis.
This tissue can cause other problems too. If it is too short, the person will suffer from high arch. If it is too long, we call it low arch, also called flat feet.
If you suffer form plantar fasciitis, the pain will be most severe just after getting up. The pain might be even worse if your achilles tendons are tight. This is why the best compression foot sleeves also cover your achilles tendons.
The plantar fascia in the foot.At the moment the medical profession has no agreement over what exactly causes plantar fasciitis. It is true, that the condition is very common among runners, but it can appear as a result of too little exercise also. Obesity can be a risk factor, just like the inward rolling of the foot.
There are many ways to treat this condition. The less evasive is to just rest, and take mild painkillers in order to lift the pain. Stretching can do wonders. In more severe cases physiotherapy, orthotics, or splinting might be in order. In extreme cases steroid injections are applied to treat the condition.
There is however an easy to apply, affordable and safe treatment method. Wearing plantar fasciitis socks or compression sleeves. The graduated compression foot sleeves help blood circulation, thus reducing the inflammation of the plantar fascia. This way the pain subsides quickly, and you will be back to your best in no time.
Let’s take a look at the five best compression foot sleeves on the market in 2017.
BeVisible Sports Plantar Fasciitis Socks
The BeVisible Sports plantar fasciitis socks provide firm arch and ankle support, while letting your plantar fascia stretch.
They are also excellent at dealing with Achilles tendonitis and heel pain.
They are very comfortable, can be worn under shoes, socks, with flip-flops or sandals. Ideal if you want to wear something during the day to treat arch or heel pain.
The graduated compression technology of the sleeves helps increase blood circulation and increase blood flow to the aching areas, thus speeding up recovery.
By wearing these compression sleeves, you will be able to stop taping your ankles and wearing bulky night sleeves on your feet in no time.
Although they are a bit more expensive than other products, the company offers a ninety day no questions asked satisfaction money back guarantee. If you are not satisfied with the product, they will give your money back straight away.
Gr8 Sportlife Unisex Plantar Fasciitis Ankle Compression Sleeve
The Gr8 Sportlife brand is famous for their excellent couture service. And now they have a line of excellent compression sleeves.
Graduated compression increases the blood flow in the feet and ankle area, helping the aching parts of your feet heal quicker.
Excellent for running, or wearing them while walking. They fit well, although some reviews say that the sleeves were a bit loose on their legs. It depends on the width of your feet I suppose. If they prove to be too loose, just wear a pair of socks under them to prevent them from moving around.
The seams are very well designed in order to prevent chaffing or skin burn.
You can wear socks under them as well as over them, they are very comfortably designed.
These sleeves also come with a 100% satisfaction money back guarantee.
SB SOX Compression Sleeves for Men and Women
SB Sox is also famous for their excellent costumer support. They state very publicly that for them the customer is the number one priority. You don’t have to go further to be sure of this than the Amazon page of their compression foot sleeves. Every question is answered in an exemplary manner. They even e-mail you a free e-book and FAQ guide when you purchase their product.
The sleeves provide great graduated compression that helps your feet heal and provide an instant boost to your blood circulation. These socks can free you from physical pain, and help you walk free again.
They can be worn with slippers, sandals, insoles, shoes, over or under any type of socks. They are made of breathable, water repellent fabric. This helps if you are on your feet for long stretches, as it keeps your feet dry by letting the sweat evaporate. The material also has anti-odor and anti-bacterial qualities.
CXCraft Health is Wealth Compression Foot Sleeves
These sleeves were designed with both athletes and weekend warriors in mind. They provide a snug fit, and let your feet move around in order for the plantar fascia to heal.
The padding is very narrow. They are still very effective, but you can wear tight sports shoes with them.
They use Inflammation Reduction Technology to speed up the blood flow inside the feet, thus healing inflammation quicker and washing out lactic acid.
The sleeves cover your achilles tendons, putting pressure on them. This highness the blood flow to these areas, thus reducing inflammation, and leading to quicker healing.
They are made of nylon, spandex and elastic to create a breathable, comfortable, moisture wicking product.
The company takes pride in its excellent costumer support, and the quality of their product. This is why they offer a 100 % lifetime guarantee. If you are not content with the Health is Wealth compression foot sleeves, they will refund their price.
Physix Gear Sport Plantar Fasciitis Socks with Arch Support
Physix Gear Sport is an excellent manufacturer of compression gear. Their compression socks are one of the best, with great reviews on Amazon. The same applies for their compression sleeves.
As soon as you put them on, you feel the pain in your heels fading away, and a sudden freshness in your feet. They target their support at the plantar fascia, without restricting motion. The socks have great ankle support, and well designed seams. They are very comfortable while keeping your sleeves closely on the feet.
They come with built-in ankle support and arch support. These features keep your feet at the correct angle in order to let them heal and move freely at the same time. The material makeup of these sports sleeves is 80% nylon, and 20% spandex.
You can wear them with sandals, shoes, boot with insoles, slippers, under or over socks. You can wear the Physic Gear Sport sleeves with taping, inserts, or even inside orthopaedic shoes.
The company offers only a 30 day money-back guarantee on the sleeves. This is the only aspect in which these products do poorer than the other compression sleeves on the market. Otherwise they are comfortable, with excellent healing ability and design.
Have you ever suffered from plantar fasciitis? How did you cure it? If you used compression sleeves, how was your experience? Share it with us in the comments!
