My new compression stockings finally came in and I'm actually wearing them for the second day in a row if that says anything. When I tried them on yesterday in the store, I noticed a difference immediately. My friend even said there was more color in my cheeks--I guess all the color usually drains out as soon as I stand up and the blood heads south, hahaha! Well, of course the woman in the store who is professionally trained put them on yesterday; with that good strong 40-50 compression and that nice, snug custom fit ... well, getting them OFF was another story entirely. I ended up with "rug burn" on my right ankle before we caught on to a better technique to spare that agony for my left foot. This morning it was my home health aide's turn to get them back on, the baby powder tip was pretty useless, and I can't say the process was entirely painless. But I do think overall they're worth it. I still can't stand up for eons without symptoms, but it's a noticeable improvement for sure, and I'll take that!
These are the ones that instead of getting an off-the-shelf size they take about 20 measurements off each of your legs and then have them custom made to your exact dimensions, even labeled which leg is which--I hope I'm not THAT asymmetrical. At any rate, I don't know if that makes a huge difference, or if it's just the higher compression of the 40-50, but these are WORLDS better than my old compression hose. Also, my old ones were waist high and these are thigh high, and I definitely like the freedom in terms of how much easier using the restroom is with these. We'll see if over time I start having problems with them losing elasticity and slipping down or something and maybe I'll wish I still had the waist high ones, but so far I like these. If they do lose elasticity, I'll just wear my skinny jeans over them to hold them up I guess. :-p
So, in summary, I highly recommend the 40-50 custom-fitted Mediven thigh-highs. (They're from the Mediven Plus line, if you go to http://www.mediusa.com/products.html and click on Phlebology then Custom under that, then go over to the right and click on the box that says Plus under it, you can see the different options in that line and the description. Just don't fall for what they say about ease in putting them on and taking them off. That's a load of you know what. Ha!)