Flight socks......are they all the same?

[tiredmum]

Afternoon all, my children ( well adults now) are becoming jet setters, off to New Zealand and Thailand next year. I wanted to buy them some flight socks but they vary greatly in price £3 to £12, I just wondered whether any of you knew if the higher the price the better the quality or do they all do the same job?

Thanks in advance

[MaryF Administrator]

I had some awful ones arrive and now as I fly quite frequently I wear surgical stockings.. vile I know but I prefer to do go the whole hog! The first set of surgical socks appeared almost useless.. I think members on here will give you some better brands. Mary F x

[jessielou]

Hi hon

As Mary said if flying it would be surgical stockings for me. I have tried others and found some very uncomfortable. I think carefully measuring you're lower leg and ensuring you have the right size is so important, I had to wear them for six weeks after surgery and my mum picked some up from a well known chemists as a spare, ooooh they were so uncomfortable, they were fairly expensive too, so my fella picked some up from a pound store, they looked like rugby socks but they did they job and were comfy.

Sorry for rambling but I think it's a bit of trial and error, or ask doc if they can recommend a brand or prescribe surgical stockings.

I hope you get sorted hon.

Take care gentle hugs love Sheena xxxx

[Tonkawoman69]

Hi Stranger.

How's you? I use cheap ones when I fly but haven't noticed any difference really . Id go for mid range. Think some suppliers charge a lot of money.

Andrea x

[Tonkawoman69]

By way I did wear my surgical stockings this year to.

[BTR1963]

Poorly fitting ones apparently do as much damage as not wearing them. Surgical all the way!

[Tiggercat]

Due to a DVT my husband wears compression stocking's permanently. If he doesn't, his legs ache after 20 minutes of standing or walking around. They are flesh coloured knee high's and look like he is wearing women's Knee High stockings, but thick. He looks funny wearing them with shorts and sandles in summer, but he would rather wear them and look funny, than ot wear them, and have achy legs, or another DVT. there was permanent damage to his veins with the last one so the leg also swells without them.

He gets them on pescription, are a heck of a lot better than the surgical stockings provided by the hospital, and thankfully, in New Zealand, we don't pay for them. He gets 2 pair every 4 months. He has to be measured properly each time he gets them as they have to fit properly or they don't work correctly.

[tim47]

My former nurse once suggested there wasn't a lot of difference and suggested I wear a pair of my wife's tights! All I can say is that I found them so alien and uncomfortable, on the way out, that I didn't put them back on until I got in the aircraft coming back from the states and we were in the air. Being 6'5" and struggling to put ladies tights on in an airplane loo is not recommended. Our seats were close to the loo and my wife kept her head down as a growing queue were increasingly vocal in wondering 'what the hell is going on in there'. I have no idea if they were any good at all, just blooming uncomfortable and made my legs cold!