Not Your Grandma’s Compression Socks

On the day I left the United States, my mom got a glimpse of the socks I was wearing before we headed to the airport. I had told her that I was going to wear compression socks, so she was surprised to see some cute black socks with a gray and teal designs. “When you said compression socks, I was thinking the white ones that grandma wears!” No, these were not grandma’s compression socks. I then opened up my suitcase and showed her all my compression socks that were very fashionable and un-granny-like, thanks to Goodhew and Sockwell.

I don’t think I’ve ever worn compression socks until just a few days ago when I began this trip. I guess I had always assumed that these kind of socks were only to help with certain health problems, like diabetes and age-related conditions. When I heard that their health benefits could involve everyone, I immediately thought of how great it would be to wear compression socks to backpack across Europe.

Before my recent flight, the longest nonstop flight I had ever had was nine hours, from LAX to Lima. I distinctly remember that, partway though the flight, my foot started to feel really weird. It was worse than having my foot fall asleep. I guess sitting in a tiny coach seat for so long affected the circulation of my legs! Since my flight from Salt Lake to Europe was even longer, I was glad to have knee high compression socks with me. For the entire flight, I didnt have to deal with tingly feet, ankle swelling, or anything of the sort!

I did initially want compression socks simply for the flights, but they are good to wear when exploring an area as well. I have walked a lot every day of this trip so far. When I travel, I like to save money and get a better feel for the destination by walking everywhere I can instead of riding a bus, subway, or taxi cab. I don’t think I even want to know how much I’ve walked the past few days because that big of a number would probably only make me more tired! It is important to take care of my feet since they’ve carried me so far. These compression socks are a treat for my feet.

I got four pairs of compression socks from Goodhew and Sockwell. All of them are made out of wool. While that sounds like it could be a sweat-inducing material, wool is great at wicking moisture away, so they actually are keeping my feet dry and smelling fresh. And the compression aspect supports my feet, which means that miles of walking haven’t made my feet very sore, and I’ve avoided foot cramps so far! I brought two additional pairs of socks. But honestly, I like my Goodhew and Sockwell socks so much, I’ve been doing extra washing so that I can wear them every day!

My socks range in color, style and length. The knee high socks we’re great for wearing on the plane. Because they compress, you couldn’t even see the sock lines through my leggings. Definitely a fashion plus! My favorite for walking around town are below the ankle, although I have some slightly longer ones that also do well at serving this purpose. The only downside is that it can take longer to get the longer socks on. The compression can make pulling a sock up your leg a bit more difficult! But that’s a small price to pay for a day of happy feet!

If you are interested in getting compression socks like mine, I can’t encourage you enough to head over to Goodhew’s site or Sockwell’s site and order some fantastic socks!

Oh, and one more thing: while these aren’t like grandma’s compression socks, people who happen to be grandmothers are still welcome to wear them!

Stockwell and Goodhew provided me with the pictured socks for the purpose of testing them out for review. No other compensation was made, and all opinions expressed are solely my own.