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Compression socks are rated in millimetres of mercury (mmHg) — the same unit as blood pressure. The number is the pressure measured at the ankle, where the garment squeezes hardest. Five bands cover almost everything sold, from a snug travel sock to a prescription garment for venous ulcers. Pick too little and nothing changes; pick too much without advice and you can restrict blood flow.
Why it's called graduated
Thigh
40%
Calf
70%
Ankle
100%
Pressure drops as it moves up the leg, so blood is pushed toward the heart rather than pooling in the feet. A sock with even pressure top to bottom is not a compression sock.
The scale every card below is measured against
Ankle pressure, mmHg
0
10
20
30
40
50
Level 01
8–15mmHg
Light support
Sold as: mild, everyday, "energising" socks. Some brands stretch the label down to 5 mmHg.
Over the counter
No fitting needed
Pharmacy · online
Description
The gentlest true compression. Feels like a firm athletic sock and pulls on with one hand. Enough to counter fluid pooling from gravity, not enough to treat a diagnosed vein problem. A safe place to find out whether you tolerate compression at all.
Medical conditions
None required — this is a comfort and prevention level
Tired, heavy, aching legs
Mild ankle or foot swelling that clears overnight
Spider veins (cosmetic)
Early pregnancy heaviness
Use for
Desk days and long sitting
Short flights and car journeys
Standing shifts under 8 hours
Post-exercise recovery wear
A first trial before stepping up
Target market
The mass consumer market. Office and remote workers, retail and hospitality staff, travellers, older adults who want light support, and complete beginners. This is the impulse-buy tier: bought off a shelf or a marketplace listing, rarely on anyone's advice, and it drives the highest unit volume of any level.
Lightest sold8 → 15 mmHg
Level 02
15–20mmHg
Moderate
Sold as: medium, travel, maternity, flight socks. The best-selling strength worldwide.
Over the counter
Fitting advised
Pharmacy · sport · online
Description
Distinctly firm at the ankle but still easy to get on unaided. The strongest level most people can buy and wear all day without a clinician involved, and the level most airlines and midwives point to. If one pair is going to live in a suitcase, it's this one.
Medical conditions
Minor to moderate varicose and spider veins
Mild oedema and end-of-day swelling
Pregnancy swelling and varicosities
Travel-related leg swelling
Lower-risk DVT prevention on long flights
After small-vein sclerotherapy
Use for
10–12 hour shifts on your feet
Flights over roughly 4 hours
Pregnancy into the third trimester
Swelling that keeps coming back
Training and recovery wear
Target market
Working people on their feet and frequent flyers: nurses, teachers, chefs, warehouse and retail staff, cabin crew. Plus pregnant customers, runners, and older adults with recurring swelling. Commercially the sweet spot — medically credible, no prescription, and the tier most premium consumer brands are built on.
Most popular15 → 20 mmHg
Level 03
20–30mmHg
Firm · medical class I
Sold as: firm, Class I, medical grade. Roughly German RAL CCL 2 territory.
Get advice first
Measure your leg
Medical supply · pharmacy
Description
Where real medical compression starts, and the strength a doctor names most often. Sold without a prescription in the US, prescribed in much of Europe. Getting it on takes effort and correct measurements matter — a garment this firm on a badly sized leg can cut in behind the knee or slide down and act like a tourniquet.
Medical conditions
Moderate to severe varicose veins
Early chronic venous insufficiency
Moderate oedema that doesn't clear overnight
After vein surgery, ablation or sclerotherapy
Post-thrombotic syndrome prevention after a DVT
Mild lymphoedema
Orthostatic hypotension, POTS and fainting on standing
Use for
All-day wear on a clinician's instruction
Recovery after a vein procedure
Long-haul travel with a clotting history
Standing work with diagnosed vein disease
Holding swelling down between appointments
Target market
Patients rather than shoppers. People with a diagnosed venous condition, post-surgical and post-DVT patients, POTS and dysautonomia communities, and a slice of endurance athletes. Bought through pharmacies, medical supply stores and specialist e-commerce, often on a doctor's note even where none is legally required.
Medical entry point20 → 30 mmHg
Level 04
30–40mmHg
Extra firm · medical class II
Sold as: Class II, extra firm. Close to German RAL CCL 3.
Prescription
Professional fitting
Donning aid likely
Description
Serious therapeutic pressure, dispensed against a diagnosis and measured by a trained fitter. Most people cannot pull these on by hand and use a donning frame, silk slip or rubber gloves. Reimbursed by insurers and health services in many countries because it prevents expensive complications.
Medical conditions
Severe varicose veins
Established chronic venous insufficiency
Healed venous leg ulcers and stasis dermatitis
Lymphoedema, maintenance phase
Post-thrombotic syndrome
Severe oedema and lipoedema
Use for
Stopping a healed ulcer from returning
Holding limb volume after decongestive therapy
Long-term venous disease management
Swelling that 20–30 mmHg failed to control
Target market
A clinical market, not a retail one. Patients under vascular, wound-care or lymphoedema specialists, typically older or post-DVT, often with mobility limits. Sold through DME suppliers, hospital clinics and certified fitters; repeat purchase every 3–6 months makes it a high-value, low-churn customer.
Prescription range30 → 40 mmHg
Level 05
40–50mmHg
Class III
Sold as: Class III. Overlaps German RAL CCL 4 at the top end.
Prescription only
Often custom-made
Supervised wear
Description
The strongest routinely prescribed hosiery, reserved for limbs that lower pressures could not control. Frequently made to measure, sometimes flat-knit rather than circular-knit for a badly misshapen limb, and often layered or paired with bandaging and pneumatic pumps. Arterial circulation must be checked before it goes on.
Medical conditions
Severe chronic venous insufficiency
Recurrent or non-healing venous ulceration
Severe lymphoedema
Severe post-thrombotic syndrome
Advanced lipo-lymphoedema
Use for
Limbs unresponsive to 30–40 mmHg
Long-term control of gross swelling
Ulcer prevention in high-risk legs
Target market
A narrow specialist population managed by vascular surgeons and lymphoedema therapists. Almost entirely funded by insurers or national health services, supplied by a handful of manufacturers, and never bought casually.
Specialist care40 → 50 mmHg
Beyond the scale
50+ mmHg
Class IV garments exist but are rare, custom-built, and used for extreme lymphoedema and elephantiasis under close specialist supervision. Nothing at this pressure is bought over a counter, and no consumer brand sells it. If a listing advertises 50 mmHg to the general public, treat the number — and the seller — with suspicion.
Side by side
The five levels at a glance
Useful when you're standing in a pharmacy aisle trying to remember which number was which.
The same sock has different numbers in different countries
"Class 2" means three different pressures depending on where the packet was printed. Always compare the mmHg range, not the class name.
United States — mmHg ranges
No binding national standard for consumer compression socks. Products are described by their mmHg range, and anything up to 30 mmHg is generally sold without a prescription. Quality and accuracy vary widely between brands.
Germany — RAL-GZ 387
The strictest scheme, with independent testing. CCL 1 is 18–21 mmHg, CCL 2 is 23–32, CCL 3 is 34–46, CCL 4 is 49 and above. A German CCL 2 sits roughly where the US calls 20–30 mmHg.
United Kingdom — BS 6612
Class 1 is 14–17 mmHg, Class 2 is 18–24, Class 3 is 25–35. The test method differs from the German one, so a British Class 3 is considerably weaker than a German CCL 3 despite the shared word.
France — ASQUAL
Four classes running from about 10–15 mmHg up to 36 mmHg and above, tested to French national requirements. Another reminder that class numbers travel badly across borders.
Check before you buy
When compression is the wrong answer
Compression assumes the arteries can still deliver blood to the foot. Where they can't, squeezing the leg makes things worse. Talk to a clinician before wearing any compression if you have:
Peripheral arterial disease or poor arterial flow. An ankle-brachial pressure index below 0.8 needs review; below 0.5, standard compression is generally unsafe.
Decompensated heart failure. Pushing fluid back toward the heart can overload it.
Diabetic neuropathy or any loss of sensation. You may not feel a garment cutting in until damage is done.
Active skin infection, cellulitis, or weeping dermatitis.
Fragile, broken or very thin skin, or a known allergy to elastane, latex or rubber.
A suspected new DVT — get it assessed first rather than self-treating.
Take them off and get advice if you notice numbness, pins and needles, throbbing pain, a cold or discoloured foot, or new sores and indentations in the skin.
Getting it right
Choosing and wearing them
Measure in the morning
Take the ankle circumference at its narrowest point just above the ankle bone, the calf at its widest, and the length from floor to just below the knee. Measure before you've been upright long enough to swell.
Match the level to the reason
Comfort and prevention live at 8–20 mmHg. Anything from 20 mmHg up is treating something, so it should follow a diagnosis rather than a guess or a product review.
Put them on first thing
Before you get out of bed, while the leg is at its smallest. Smooth out every wrinkle and never roll or fold the top band down — a folded cuff turns into a tight ring.
Replace them on schedule
Elastic fatigue is invisible. Most garments lose their rated pressure after 3–6 months of daily wear, so buy two pairs and rotate them, and put a date on the packet.
Compression 15-20MMHG
Compression stockings are medical grade devices designed to move blood flow.
Support compression stockings are made available in multiple compression support levels. Most commonly compression support stockings come in mild (8-15 mmHg), Medium (15-20 mmHg), Firm (20-30 mmHg), X-Firm (30-40 mmHg) gradient compression levels.
Compression Therapy Guide
Mild
Provides relief and minimizes tired and achy legs.
Prevents fatigued legs from long periods of sitting or standing.
Helps relieve minor swelling of feet, ankles, and legs.
During pregnancy, helps prevent the formation of varicose and spider veins.
Helps maintain healthy, energized legs.
First Time Wearing Compression Stockings? We recommend you start with 15-20mmHg
Medium
For the prevention and relief of minor to moderate varicose and spider veins.
Helps relieve tired, aching legs, and minor swelling of feet, ankles, and legs.
During pregnancy, helps prevent varicose veins and spider veins.
Helps prevent deep vein thrombosis (DVT), also known as economy class syndrome.
Used in post-sclerotherapy treatment to help prevent the reappearance of varicose veins and spider veins.
Ideal compression level used for those traveling long distances.
Firm
Helps prevent and relieve moderate to severe varicose veins (also during pregnancy).
For post-surgical and post-sclerotherapy treatment to help prevent the reappearance of varicose and spider veins.
Helps in treatment of moderate to severe edema or lymphatic edema.
Helps with the management of active ulcers and manifestations of post-thrombotic syndrome (PTS).
Helps relieve superficial thrombophlebitis.
Helps prevent orthostatic hypotension (sudden fall in blood pressure when standing).
Helps prevent deep vein thrombosis (DVT), also known as economy class syndrome.
Extra Firm
Helps prevent and relieve severe varicose veins.
Used in the treatment of severe edema and lymphedema.
Used in post-surgical and post-sclerotherapy treatment to help prevent the reappearance of varicose and spider veins.
Helps reduce symptoms of Orthostatic Hypotension and Postural Hypotension
For the management of Venous Ulcers and manifestations of Post-Thrombotic Syndrome (PTS).
Prevents deep vein thrombosis (DVT), also known as economy class syndrome.
RX
40-50 mmHg Gradient Compression Stockings are generally indicated for more Serious Venous Diseases such as Acute Leg/Ankle Swelling, Varicose Veins, Chronic Vein Insufficiency and Deep Vein Thrombosis.
The benefits of Compression Therapy are plentiful and the reasons vary from person to person why you may choose to wear compression socks or stockings. As shown in the above chart, some of the most prevalent symptoms or conditions that benefit from compression therapy are:
Pregnancy related swelling and vein problems
Varicose or spider veins
Lymphedema or edema
Swelling, pain or blood clots in the lower legs, also known as DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis)
Poor circulation from sitting for long periods
Post-surgical and post-sclerotherapy treatment
It can even be used as a preventive measure to maintain healthy legs for someone who spends extensive amounts of time on their feet. Quite simply, when we stand still for long periods, the forces of gravity increase the pressure within the veins of the legs where the greater effects happen at the ankle and decreases gradually up the leg and body. This pressure depends on the vertical distance of the column of blood from the heart to the foot. That's why gradient compression stockings are designed with the pressure greatest at the ankle and diminishing as it moves up the leg in order to counter the effects of the higher venous pressures.
Compression therapy products are put on in the morning upon arising, which is typically before any significant swelling would occur, and then removed at night. Throughout the day the compression prevents blood from pooling in leg veins, which in turn helps your overall circulation and lessens or eliminates any leg swelling you may have.
When shopping for compression socks or stockings, it is best to measure earlier in the day before swelling builds in the legs. Measurements taken later in the day after swelling occurs may cause you to choose an item that is too large and then not effective.
There are many types of compression socks and stockings available without a prescription and they do offer wide-ranging benefits. Before wearing a compression therapy of 20 mmHg (Firm Compression) and above, it is generally recommended to consult your health care provider to find out if graduated compression stockings are right for you. If the answer is yes, they can tell you what pressure grade you should buy for maximum benefit and relief.
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Mild
Medium
Firm
Extra Firm
RX