Medical Uses For Footstools

You may have heard about the benefits of wearing tight "air socks" to reduce the likelihood of thrombosis in the legs during long aircraft flights but are you aware of the health benefits of "putting your feet up" to revive blood circulation in the legs?

After muscle pulls or breaks to the bone legs doctors often prescribe sitting "with your feet up" to aid convalescence. This takes pressure away from the point of the injury allowing better blood circulation. It allows oxygen and the body's natural nutrients to the affected areas.

When this author had a recent serious calf injury whereby the the muscle fully "snapped" away from the holding ligaments the doctor's advice was to spend as much recovery time as possible with the calf resting on a bench or footstool. With the leg positioned higher than the hip reduced pressure via blood circulation allowed the injury to repair far quicker than had the leg been subject to the normal forces of gravity.

Doctors advise similar relaxation techniques when recovering from serious abrasions or cuts: - skin tissue repairs itself far quicker (and is less susceptible to infection) if the leg is held in temporary suspension via an appropriate foot rest.

A proven way to assist recovery is to use a medical footstool. This item is really a standard domestic stool upholstered with a special polyurethane coating with added chemicals to reduce the spread of infection. Resting feet on the footstool helps to increase the circulation in the lower legs and foot area. Use of such a footstool in a medical environment vastly reduces the likelihood of infection and is easy for staff to sterilise and wipe clean. Most operating theatres have beds with PU coated fabric mattresses which comprise a knitted cotton or polyester substrate over a rigid foam composite. The benefits of this upholstery material are plain to see. Not only do they relieve pressure and reduce the incidence of bed and leg sores they are easy to work with and maintain.