How do Stump Shrinkers work?
Unlike arteries, your veins are not lined with muscle assisting in blood flow. Blood in your veins has to work against gravity, traveling through one-way valves to flow back to your heart. Typically the leg muscles, through contraction during walking, will tighten around veins pushing your blood through these one-way valves. However, anything that impedes this flow—such as lack of movement or amputation—results in blood pooling in the veins of your residual limb, leading to edema and swelling. By compressing your residual limb, shrinker stockings can help blood in the veins return to the heart. Stump shrinkers stockings can also improve the flow of fluid that bathes the cells (referred to as lymph) in your limb. Improving the flow of lymph can help reduce tissue swelling. A reduction in swelling will reduce residual limb discomfort and phantom pain by lessening the squeezing affect on surrounding nerves. The benefits of wearing a stump shrinker are vast and beneficial for both new and experienced amputees.
