Compression Socks

[DaveyJohnston]

Is the current trend for compression socks another way of reducing the risk of blood clots in EPO / CERA thickened blood?
Similar to the old trick of Aspirin / Warfarin use?
I know people will go on about the recovery benefits but if you've ridden, then had a massage, ice bath, etc, why would you need compression socks on a rest day as some riders were doing during this years TdF?

 

[workingclasshero]

when it comes to recovery when you're out there working your arsé off day after day, then i think you play by the rule that every little helps, i don't think we can put the use of compression socks down to doping. although it would be a right cracker that

 

[blackcat]

Is the current trend for compression socks another way of reducing the risk of blood clots in EPO / CERA thickened blood?
Similar to the old trick of Aspirin / Warfarin use?
I know people will go on about the recovery benefits but if you've ridden, then had a massage, ice bath, etc, why would you need compression socks on a rest day as some riders were doing during this years TdF?

I am all for pursuing any intangible benefits for the actual or placebo effect.

I applaud Garmin for trying to dial in every variable, plus the intangibles.

This first came in with Under Armour in Baltimore. And then alot of other companies jumped on the gravy train. Obviously a big profit centre, marking up cheap raw materials and gauging a Nike equivalent margin.

So probably a combination of being sold some schwag from corporate America, some genuine neglible positive effects "proven" by paid for industry research, plus operational discipline and placebo.

If there was health effects, for blood complications, you may see this product in more of the less ethical teams. My take on Garmin, they are one of the cleaner teams, perhaps the cleanest team, so I doubt this was in their decision making function.

 

[David Suro]

The benefits of compression garments has been researched for quite some time.

Patients confined to bed-rest following surgery or trauma are feequently fitted with air compression decives below the knee to help reduce the risk of deep-vein thrombosis and associated embolism.

Astronauts are fitted with similar compression devices while in space for a similar reason.

Both of these groups are relatively, or completely, sedentary in terms of use of the muscles in their legs. Cyclists, obviously, are not.

The risk of a blood clot forming in the leg of a competitive cyclist is almost non-existent given the amount of muscle pump acitvity in their calves.

Compression garments are used in recovery of cyclists to help promote increased circulation, not to avoid complication of deep vein thrombosis.

 

[barrlley]

They help noticeably, especially if you have to travel to/from races. Their purpose is to facilitate blood flow from extremities, which helps prevent blood clotting, but for people without clotting issues, and guys that use EPO now understand how to properly manage its dosage and stay within a safe zone, its more the recovery function they are after as opposed to keeping the drugs flowing freely.

 

[red_explosions]

It's all placebo to be honest. Compression socks are designed to facilitate venous return in people who are immobile or have restricted mobility. Fitting these things in people who already have excellent cardiovascular function is next to useless. If they are designed with DVT from EPO use in mind, it can never be proven that these things actually work. How many studies are there out there on the effect of compression socks on cyclists with jacked crits? It's a fad.

 

[David Suro]

I couldn't find any articles that used EPO doped cyclists exclusively, but here are a few publications that suggest there is a perceived benefit in wearing compression garments either during exercise or post exercise.

http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a771194462

http://www.springerlink.com/content/n15367x84800t416/

http://www.jssm.org/vol5/n1/12/v5n1-12pdf.pdf

They probably don't make a huge difference, but races are won and lost by very narrow margins. The socks are inexpensive and no possibility of negative side effects have been reported to my knowledge.

Let these men wear their socks in peace!

 

[BroDeal]

So probably a combination of being sold some schwag from corporate America, some genuine neglible positive effects "proven" by paid for industry research, plus operational discipline and placebo.

This should be put in their marketing material.

Compression socks: Some genuine neglible positive effects.

 

[blackcat]

what is the relationship tho, blood viscosity, the compressions, and thrombosis. Does thrombosis have any relationship to the thickening from increased crit and red cell? One is blockage, the other is a pressure from the viscosity.

But some cyclists have had trouble with the iliac artery in the quad. I think O'Grady, Cooke, and the late Ryan Cox of Barloworld and South Africa, have had the surgery. They were all blocked at certain times, and the leg going dead when racing heated up and the hammer went down.

I think Matt Decanio was alleging that this procedure, well, the symptoms and problem, were the cause of epo usage. I am wary, it may well be apocryphal and Decanio's zany antics. Any medical professional or physio weigh in? As if there would be research on such phenomenon tho.

 

[blackcat]

This should be put in their marketing material.

Compression socks: Some genuine neglible positive effects.

think I may copyright that line. Seems on for the Onion.

but placebo is big in cycling, just ask Virenque (or more appropriately, his trainer)

 

[Advancedone]

Now we know why Lance wears those stupid long black socks.

You wouldn't look so stupid if there wasn't a good reason.