If you wake up more than once per night, you could have a condition called nocturia. Learn how compression socks for nocturia can be a good treatment option.
Waking more than once a night to urinate?
It is more common than you think. As both men and women age, on average 1 in 3 wake up more than once a night to urinate. It may have a fancy name like nocturia, which can have a variety of causes, but it has non-fancy real issues. Some of these issues include fatigue, lack of mental sharpness, moodiness, and sleepiness the following day. There is also the danger of falling in the middle of the night or falling asleep while driving.
Although there are many sources giving recommendations for diet changes such as less alcohol or caffeine, there are some less-practical solutions too such as taking an afternoon nap (your boss may have issues with that) or stopping drinking anything after 3 pm! One commonly suggested recommendation is the most overlooked, but one of the simplest solutions… compression socks.
Why would compression socks help nocturia?
Let’s look at the root cause. Nocturia is needing to pee more at night. Where is all that fluid coming from since you are not drinking in your sleep? The answer is, that fluids are being stored and then your kidneys go into action at night to process the fluids. Normally, fluids circulate in your bloodstream, but as you age circulation has a harder time fighting gravity, so fluids start accumulating in your legs and the legs swell during the day. At the end of the day when the legs are elevated, fluids circulate again and are processed by the kidneys to produce urine at night.
Watch a short video on how that happens.
That’s where compression socks can help. Compression socks prevent the fluids from collecting in the legs during the day in the first place, so they are forced to circulate and be processed during the day.
What are compression socks and what do they do?
Compression socks are designed to provide compression (tightness) and support from the knee down. Typically made from a combination of spandex and nylon, these socks provide strong pressure on your veins which helps promote blood flow, reduces swelling, and decreases the risk of fluid from your bloodstream pooling in any one area, like your ankles and feet.
Compression Socks May Be Useful For Those:
- With limited mobility to help with poor circulation
- Athletes to speed recovery or healing
- Who are on their feet all day to reduce fatigue
- Pregnant women
- With lymph nodes removed
- Who wake up at night to urinate
How To Buy Compression Socks: All You Need To Know
There are some terminologies that will be helpful to buy compression socks. Since compression socks provide a health benefit, there are medical-grade socks that are true medical devices regulated by the FDA. Depending on what reason the compression socks are used for determines the level of compression needed.
Compression is usually measured in ‘mmHg’ (millimeters of Mercury – a unit of pressure).
- 15-20 mmHg: light compression for better health, athletes, and light edema
- 20-30 mmHg: medium compression is considered Medical-grade (Class 1), typically sufficient for reducing swelling in the legs for nocturia
- 30-40 mmHg: strong compression is considered Medical-grade (Class 2), likely for serious indications such as cardiovascular health
- 40-50 mmHg: super strong is considered Medical-grade (Class 3). You need a prescription for these! Think of conditions like varicose veins and deep vein thrombosis.
Graduated compression is tighter around the ankle and gets looser as you go up the leg. Graduated compression socks are ideal for nocturia, because the tightest compression is where you need it most to force the fluids upward.
Compression size is measured off a typical leg. If you have a wider or bigger calf, then the socks do you no good if you don’t wear them because they are too tight, so look for manufacturers that offer a “wide-calf” size.
Typically compression socks only go up to the knee, whereas compression stockings may go up to the thigh.
How Do You Wear Compression Socks?
For the purposes of nocturia, the goal is to prevent pooling of fluids in the first place to have it processed during the day. So you would wear compression socks during the day, and there is no need to wear them while you sleep.
Give Them A Try!
If you wake up at night to pee, it is worth trying a simple solution like compression medical-grade socks. Gone are the days of only ugly beige socks. BetterSleep Compression socks by ELITONE are the only socks designed for nocturia, and they are cute too. With so many benefits, there’s really no reason not to give them a try!
5 Responses
Thanks. COVID caused my nocturia .. got it Feb 2024 and these symptoms would come and go but now for the last two weeks.. it’s just non stop waking up at night . I’m only 32
I’m on a low sodium diet witch I follow i only cheat once in while but not much I stick to my diet very close I don’t know my normal calf size
When the nurse comes she measures me left calf 27.5 right calf 28 cm ankles19 cm i am 5 ft 5in I weigh is 122 lbs
I’m up at least 3 to 4 times a nite i do have a little swelling in my ankles but not huge can you help me
What is the wide calf measurement and the regular calf measurement?