What is compression therapy?
Warm up - Blood flow restricted exercise - Electrostimulation - Compression
Compression therapy is an innovative technique used by athletes to speed up recovery by increasing blood flow, decrease swelling and remove toxins which build in the blood. Compression therapy is favoured by elite athletes and the Come Back Club uses the high-end brand Compex Ayre.
So how does it work?
When you exercise you generate metabolic waste and these toxins are transported in your blood. By increasing the blood flow around the body, research shows waste - such as lactic acid - is moved out of the blood quicker, reducing swelling and fatigue, but also allowing more nutrients in to the muscle.
The Compex Ayre sleeves expand with air, tightening around the affected limb to encourage blood flow. It's more effective than cold therapy or wearing your basic compression sock - while socks squeeze only the lower part of the leg, our Compex boots go up the top of the thigh so all of the leg benefits. The compression also actively intensifies rather than staying at just one constant pressure like a compression sock would, meaning quicker results.
It’s as effective as active recovery, but the stationary nature of compression therapy is more appropriate for those with injuries.
Tom Bradley, founder of the Come Back Club and Warrior Sports Rehab, said: “Because your legs are below your heart it’s harder for the blood to pump north and often I see patients with swelling in their legs. The compression is a bit like having a massage and people notice a big difference.
"Compression therapy is great, but simply unaffordable for most people and they may not know the best way to use it for recovery. Our physiotherapists and trainers know exactly what setting our Come Back Club members need based on the phase of recovery they're in, their injury, and how tough their workout was.”
What do you do at the Come Back Club?
You'll have had a pretty hard workout without necessarily realising it with our blood flow restriction and electrostimulation, so now it's your time to relax.
Sitting up on a physio table with your legs extended, you’ll slip your legs into the long boots, or other limb into our other sleeve if you don’t have a leg injury. Zip it up, turn it on and let the machine inflate to add pressure to your limb. This will encourage blood to circulate back to the heart and aid recovery. You’ll sit here for 10 minutes and then your workout is complete.
Rest of the class
The compression therapy is the final stage of the Come Back Club class. You’ll have warmed up on an exercise bike, done some simple exercises while wearing our blood flow restriction technology, and further aided muscle growth with our Compex electrical muscle stimulation. If we persist with the aggravating activities the lining of the bone becomes more irritated and it leads to inflammation at that site and can start to create a change in the bone. Boney Edema can occur, meaning there’s an increase to inflammatory processes in the area. This is called ‘stress response’ this can look like an increased area of signal or a hot spot on imaging. A clinician might describe it as a boggy sensation to touch as there is increase in fluid around the area.
