Compression for recovery - question

[ny biker]

Oak, do you know the mmHG of the socks you have?

I wore the 2XU recovery socks after my bike ride on Saturday. It was a 49 mile ride and I pushed myself the whole time so my legs were tired. Afterwards was the annual club picnic, then the ~1hour drive home. I put the socks on as soon as I finished the ride. They felt okay until I was about 1/2 hour into the drive home. At that point I developed a cramp on the top of my right foot running up my shin. To make things really interesting, I was on a highway at the time. I pulled over, took the sock off, waited a minute, put my sneaker on my bare foot and drove home without any additional problems. I've only had a cramp like that once before, when I was driving while wearing sneakers that were laced too tightly.

After I got home I put the sock back on and was able to wear it a couple more hours. Then the tops of my toes started to hurt so I took them off.

Here endeth the 2XU experiment.

Now I'm looking to try something with less compression. One huge problem -- less than what?? 2XU does not seem to want us to know the pressure measurements for their products. A couple of their videos mention pressure ratings, but I couldn't find anything for the recovery socks.

Here's what I have managed to learn.

Medical grade socks start at 30-20 mmHG. OTC socks are 20-15.
CEP running socks: 25-18.
CEP recovery tights or open-toe knee-highs: 30-25.
2XU running socks: 25-17.
Zoot running socks: 20-8.
Zoot recovery or ultra socks: 30-18.
DeSoto socks: 25 (don't know if that's 25 top to bottom or if their product description is incomplete)
2XU recovery tights: 25/27-16/18
2XU recovery socks: ????????

I am leaning toward the Zoot socks (20-8). I suspect they'd be more effective if the pressure at the top was higher, but I'd rather have not enough at the top than too much at the bottom. My other choice would be OTC socks at 20-15. I have no idea what brands to consider for the OTC socks.

[OakLeaf]

I don't have socks. I have one pair of pantyhose that are 30-40 mm (those are the ones that really kill my feet, don't remember the brand), one pair of the ugly white Futuro thigh-highs that are 15-20 mm, and one pair of thigh-highs that I remember as being 20-30 mm but I'm not exactly sure the brand, they might be this Sigvaris pair.

I do feel I get a benefit even from the lower compression of the Futuros, especially since I can wear them longer. I'll definitely wear wool socks over any of them, not only to keep my feet warm but to protect the nylon.

[ny biker]

Thanks!!

I'll post again after I've had a chance to try the Zoot socks, in case anyone is finding this useful.

[GLC1968]

I have used CEP compression recovery socks (don't remember the exact name) and they were only OK. They make my feet hot, so I can only stand to wear them in the winter. I have a pair of compression 'socks' from Walgreens that have the same pressure level as my Zoot tights and they work well for calf recovery. They do have compression around the midfoot, but it's not super tight. The heel and toes are open though, so they are not as 'sweaty' for me as full socks.

My Zoot RX recovery tights are the best, by far. I had a pair I bought back in 2010 and they worked but they were so 1) hard to get on 2)uncomfortable and 3)poorly fitting, that I found myself finding excuses to not wear them. On the recommendation of Susan Otcenas, I bought the newer version. Wow, what a difference! Zoot really made some improvements. The foot band no longer kills my feet (Crankin - you should try on a pair of the newer ones!), the waist is no longer too low rise to stay up, and I swear that overall, they are easier to get on. That could be because I've lost some weight, but the newer tights just seem stretchier than the old ones. I love them for recovery. I wear then for travel after long runs, races or rides (why do I always seem to have a full day of travel the day after a hard effort??) and they make a world of difference vs doing nothing.

I cannot sleep in them (they make my RLS worse) but if I can get in a few hours of wearing immediately after a workout and then wear them for 'day-after' travel, I'm good.

[Crankin]

Just read your comment to DH.
GLC, how can I make sure I am buying the new version?

[GLC1968]

Just read your comment to DH.
GLC, how can I make sure I am buying the new version?

I'm not sure. They look very similar but there is a clear difference when they are side by side. I know that TE only carries the new version, so you could order directly from them.

[ny biker]

My thinking on tights is: I would typically be putting them on after a ride, which means I'm probably changing clothes in a heavily-used public restroom (gas station, convenience store, fast food place). So I'm trying really hard not to let my clothes touch the filthy floor, and there are probably people waiting to use the restroom after me so I need to move fast. This is not a good situation for putting on very-tight tights.

With socks, I can just sit in my car while putting them on.

Are you guys typically at home when you change into the tights post-workout?

p.s. I had a long chat about compression socks with my trainer last night. He mentioned that Nike also sells them and he thought they might be less expensive than the other brands. There happens to be a Nike store near the gym so I stopped in to have a look-see on my way home. They're the same price range as the other brands I've already investigated and there's no mmHg information available for them. So I didn't buy them. I'm still planning to buy the Zoot socks, hopefully I'll have time to place the order tonight.