I’ve suffered from joint issues, muscle pains and spasms since I was 11 years old, caused by my hypermobile, or very flexible joints. This has led to constant aches that affect my sleep, cause stiffness – even my hands can freeze up from typing on a laptop or phone – and cold temperatures seem to make everything more painful.
Normally, I ease any symptoms with a budget-friendly method of pull-on bandages, vapour rub and magnesium-filled baths, but I kept hearing about a more high-tech method to reduce muscle and joint soreness: compression boots.
What are compression boots?
Compression boots are air-filled sleeves for your feet, legs, and sometimes thighs that fill with air in sequence to apply pressure, mimicking a lymphatic drainage massage. Wearing them is said to help reduce swelling, flush out metabolic waste and lactic acid, increase circulation and alleviate muscle soreness by encouraging oxygen-rich blood flow and promoting lymphatic drainage.
While most widely known for aiding post-workout recovery and used by everyone from elite athletes to A-list celebrities – both Jennifer Aniston and singer Dua Lipa have shared pictures on their social feeds zipped into versions of the space-age looking boots – they are also a recognised medical device to reduce leg swelling and prevent deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) in patients with certain health conditions.
I was offered the chance to try the Hyperice Normatec 3 Legs at a Gymbox gym. These boots are available to buy at Boots and Amazon, albeit for an eye-watering £799. I was intriguied to see if they help ease any of my aches.
Normatec 3 Compression Boots Review
I placed my feet into the boots, zipped them up and watched them fill with air. Laying back to elevate my feet, the boots reached my upper thighs and began to tighten around every muscle down to my toes.
At first, the feeling was uncomfortable and I felt slightly panicked. The instructor told me that this is often the case, but that my body would soon adjust and I’d begin to love it. And while I was sceptical of the boots that felt like my legs had been swallowed by a blood-pressure machine, he was right. Once I got over the strange feeling of having the life sucked out of my legs, it felt quite comforting to have them elevated and held by the boots.
Pulsing up and down, and squeezing my toes, this encourages blood flow and helps muscles recover from a workout. I enjoyed the break they gave from aching muscles so much that I asked for an extra five minutes.
After my time in the boots, I felt lighter and the soles of my feet were “buzzing” on the way home. That night, my feet didn’t ache at all, and any discomfort stayed away until the following day.
There are other brands making compression boots Therabody, perhaps best known for its massage guns that aid post-exercise recovery, has its JetBoots RecoveryAir, £729 (the exact boots worn by Dua), which have in-built rechargable pumps, so there are no wires to contend with and they also have an accompanying app. Pulsio’s boots are currrently £299, down from £369.99. They deliver up to 200mmHg pressue – more than most competitors, JetBoots and Normatec’s go up to 100mmHG, for example – but note that the control panel does need to be plugged into the mains.
Boots come in different sizes to suit varying heights, so check the brands’ size guidelines before buying.