Did your Consult result in a letter or report bring written? If so that report would normally include an instruction asking your GP to prescribe the stockings AND when they should be worn.
The when is relevant and important. There are 3 schools of thought within medical professionals, particularly Consultants:
that they should be worn 24 hrs per day, particularly while bedridden in hospital.
that they should be worn only at night, when static and horizontal - and your leg muscles are not helping the return of fluids 'uphill'
or only worn by day, when active and generally vertical, to provide additional support to the many sphincter muscles in your legs that stop fluid from falling into your feet and fluid accumulating from the effect of gravity.
A few years ago I had varicose vein surgery and during a pre-op assessment by the Surgeon who did the op, he told me to wear stockings by day only and arranged for them to be prescribed. The Pharmacist wrote on the packaging by day - in accordance with the Consultant instructions. A couple of weeks later I had the surgery under a general anaesthetic and shortly after was visited by his Surgeon colleague, who (in the presence of the ward sister) told me to wear stockings at night only for the next fortnight. This was implemented by the Hospital and written into my discharge paperwork.
Once home, I checked my original paperwork and confirmed I had totally contradictory instructions; I wasn't going mad!. I phoned the Ward, explained the contradiction, and got a call back from a different ward sister saying that a check had been made with the Consultant (unnamed) and definitely should be at night only. I met the original Consultant a couple of months later (who had said by day only and who had done the actual Surgery). He laughed and said there were different views on this depending on where someone was originally trained. I didn't laugh and pointed out that they didn't seem to know what was actually appropriate and this was less than professional! He was pleasantly apologetic and pointed out that I was generally very fit, did a lot of sport and so wasn't particularly vulnerable to this problem. I left, still confused!
Compression stockings can be very uncomfortable if too tight, most pharmacists will measure you to confirm the correct length as well as for calf diameter. I have a few pairs still, after various periods in hospital in the last 3yrs - marked as different sizes! The measuring was clearly not very consistent! Often compression stockings can neither be put on nor taken off by yourself on your own - they are intentionally tight and constricting. I got cramp in my calf last June while in Hospital for 3 weeks after emergency surgery and not only was the pain excruciating it was the middle of the night and my call buzzer had fallen off my bed. Not fun!
Most nurses will tell you when they should be worn in accordance with what they were themselves last told - with relatively little understanding of what YOUR stockings are intended to do for YOU. I would advise you to check specifically with the Consultant about what he/she wants to achieve for YOU and thus when they must be worn. My experience from last June made me realise that there is still a lot of contradiction within Health Care Professionals (HCPs) about when compression stockings are really needed and measuring is very subjective.
