Please note, this is my personal experience of living with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, the treatments and path to diagnosis and should therefore not be taken as medical advice. I am aware that some complaints are only indirect EDS symptoms but these also contribute to the overall picture and my experience with the condition, EDS.
Compression stockings were the first aids I purchased. With EDS, the muscles are often tensed to compensate for unstable joints to such an extent that they quickly become overloaded. Ankles are often the first and most severely affected, and so are the leg muscles, resulting in heavy legs. That was also, long before the EDS diagnosis, what I felt and suffered from. When looking for relief for heavy legs, you quickly come across compression stockings.
When I tried them for the first time, a whole new world opened up for me. The compression gave so much relief that it was only then that I realized that my entire body was tense. I had knee-high compression stockings but wanted compression for my entire legs and not just my muscles. They may not have given my joints any support but it did feel like the tension was holding my ankles together and I wanted this for my knees, hands, etc.
In my opinion, compression therapy should be a first line therapy for EDS. It is not very invasive and gives a lot of relief. Unfortunately, it also has disadvantages. Thigh-high stockings are held up by a silicone edge that is supposed to prevent sagging. This quickly causes irritation, since people with EDS already have sensitive skin. Compression panties are difficult to put on and were an obstacle to dealing with my overactive bladder. The body part normally has no compression function and therefore does not provide support to the hip. Large joints are already more difficult to treat with compression. Hand and finger compression gives a lot of relief and gloves are freely available. Fingerless gloves didn’t work for me and full gloves are often inconvenient for daily activities since I already have little strength in my fingers and hands.
Knee-high compression stockings have been my daily companions for over 35 years. With open toes, they are still fairly easy to put on. These also have a silicone studded edge, but the skin on my lower legs is slightly less sensitive than my upper legs. In the summer, I sometimes have irritations and I have to take good care of my skin. I get 2 pairs reimbursed per year, which is not much, but they are of quite good quality and reasonably priced. The stockings are the first thing I put on in the morning and the last thing I take off.
Living with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome 