Dynamic Recovery at Mt. Royal Spa

Living with muscles soreness, pain, and swelling might seem like it’s inevitable, but it doesn’t have to be. Sure, some of this pain is natural whether you’re recovering from surgery or even your training regimen. But pain doesn’t have to be permanent. In fact, there’s something out there that you can use right now to remedy these issues.

Ice baths, cryotherapy, stretching, massages… what haven’t you tried for recovery? The options are truly endless. And it seems like every day we’re learning a little more about the best recovery methods for those of us living the everyday athlete life. If you’re ready to get serious about your recovery, then dynamic compression, a.k.a intermittent pneumatic compression, is an option worth exploring. 

Compression therapy via recovery boots and dynamic compression, is a way to maximize each moment of your recovery, using a specialized system to stimulate both superficial and deep veins in the lower extremities of your body. This increases blood flow and targets areas that otherwise don’t receive a lot of attention. Just 30 minutes of using intermittent pneumatic compression is equivalent to six hours of natural recovery. 

Hoping to cut your recovery time in half after you’ve just completed another tri? Compression therapy can help. Living that work from home life, but not loving the side effects of sitting in a chair all day? Yep, a compression system will help boost your recovery, too. 

If you’re interested in taking your recovery to the next level, and letting go of those aches and pains,  then you’ve come to the right place. Stay tuned for all the details on using dynamic compression, whether or not it’s right for you, and how to integrate it into your life the right way. 

WHAT IS DYNAMIC COMPRESSION RECOVERY?

Compression therapy using a pneumatic compression device (i.e. compression boots)  is a fantastic recovery option that requires very little effort, but the impact is huge. Blood flow is not only important to your athletic performance, it’s literally what keeps us alive, right? The overall goal here is to get blood flowing back to the heart- while there are multiple ways of doing this, using a compression system is hands down the fastest. 

Massage therapy as a means of speeding up recovery through boosting flow has been on the recovery radar for awhile, but we now know there’s something even faster and more efficient… enter dynamic compression recovery. 

A compression system, usually worn on the body’s lower extremities, the blood vessels are constrained at just the right frequency to prevent any swelling while sending blood all over the body. Without compression recovery, the body is responsible for doing this all on its own, at its own pace, so using a recovery system to do this for you gives the blood vessels a little encouragement to get the job done faster, and more efficiently. 

Gently compressing veins at a controlled rate also prevents them from expanding and contracting on their own, which over time makes the walls more thin, causing future blood flow issues. 

Compression therapy has been around for some time, but until recently it’s been mostly in hospitals as a post-surgery means of recovery. Now there are recovery systems available for use in your own home, so you don’t have to be recovering from major surgery in order to reap the benefits. 

Here’s just a quick breakdown of what exactly compression recovery can do for you:

  1. Reduce your pain level from muscle soreness and stiffness.
  2. Increase overall flexibility. 
  3. Cut your recovery time in half… if not more! That means more time for the good stuff.
  4. Prevent lactic acid and metabolic waste from building up by promoting circulation- less toxins sitting in the blood is always a good thing. 

Basically, you’ll notice a change for the better after adding a recovery system to your daily routine.

COMPRESSION SOCKS VS. DYNAMIC COMPRESSION

It’s worth noting here that there are multiple types of compression therapy out there, one of them being compression socks. This might be one of the most common methods of compression therapy, as it’s so widely available and easy to find. 

While compression socks do add an extra level of support by encouraging blood flow, they don’t have the same benefits of compression boots, or a compression system. 

WHO SHOULD USE COMPRESSION SYSTEMS

  • A compression system is really for anyone in need of recovery from something. Whether you’re a triathlete looking to get your body to bounce back after an event or you’re experiencing poor circulation from an illness, dynamic compression recovery can help. 
  • Chronic venous insufficiency, or CVI, happens when the walls of veins become weak. This leads to all kinds of health issues, some of which are very visible (oh, hello, varicose veins) while others are harder to find until they’ve caused other issues. Decreased blood flow to any part of the body is incredibly dangerous, and not worth the risk.  
  • Using a compression system helps prevent this sort of health issue before it becomes a problem. Being proactive with your health is always of the utmost importance. 
  • At any time, 3-11% of adults are experiencing some sort of complication as a result of CVI- sometimes it’s in the form of skin discoloration, other times it’s swelling. But most of the time, these issues are the result of a more superficial CVI issue, not one that’s buried deep in the veins. Therefore using compression therapy is a great remedy, or preventative tactic, for keeping these issues from arising. 

Here are just a few folks that might benefit from dynamic compression recovery systems:

  1. Any athlete or active person looking to restore their body after an event, like a workout competition or race.
  2. People experiencing CVI in the form of venous ulcers or reflux.
  3. Those with lymphedema, or a blocked lymph node. 
  4. Individuals recovering from surgical procedures when swelling of the lower body is a risk, or anyone that’s post-op and already experiencing swelling. 

By slipping on a specialized boot that targets the legs or hips, a compression system is able to slowly inflate and deflate, encouraging blood flow, and sending anyone wearing it down the path to a faster recovery. Using an external compression system can also help reduce future injuries through increased flexibility and circulation. 

HOW TO INTEGRATE COMPRESSION THERAPY INTO YOUR RECOVERY ROUTINE

Once you’ve discussed compression therapy with your doctor and decided it’s the right option for you, then you’re ready to get started. Compression therapy is a relatively easy way to recover, all you have to do is sit back, relax, and let oour recovery system do the work.