Yesterday my sister and I visited Regency Medical Supplies. The purpose of the visit was to "fit" my sister with support hose. She has been delivering mail for 35 years and the stress of pounding the pavement had resulted in varicose veins.
We were surrounded with all of the equipment that helps the elderly and disabled to function: canes, walkers and incontinence supplies. A friendly woman, identified as a certified support hose technician,
led us to a tiny room at the end of the store.
Using a measuring tape, she took measurements of my sister's ankles and calves as well as the length of her legs from foot to knee. Availability was restricted to beige or black stockings, she explained. Searching through the stack of boxes, she produced two brands. One product was more sheer than the other but the opaque stocking was cotton and would be cooler. When removed from the boxes, I was surprised to see that they were "knee-highs".
"Do you normally wear pants?" she asked. My sister replied that she wears shorts for nine months of the year. "In that case you'll probably want the opaque ones" the technician said. "They will look more trendy". Immediately I had an image of my sister walking down the street in shorts with chubby knees above her beige support hose. Maybe she would start a new trend!!
Removing one pair from the box, the technician began her tutorial on "The proper method for installation and removal of support hose". A pair of rubber gloves was essential for the task! The support hose fit very tightly and the gloves, with hundreds of little nubbles on the palms, help to push and pull them into position. "When removing them" she cautioned "make sure that you don't roll them down to your ankle because the compression increases and you would be applying a torniquet to your foot!" Yikes!! "This is much more serious than pulling on panty hose" she warned.
After sweating through the application of the first pair, my sister announced that the toe seam could present a problem, rubbing against her shoes while walking. "Oh, no problem." the technician replied. "We have a toeless version!"
So, when we left the store 45 minutes later, my sister was wearing her new "trend setting" knee high, support hose and the technician was happy that her demonstration had been successful! I was happy that the outdoor temperature was under zero and this wasn't one of the days that my sister was wearing shorts!
We were surrounded with all of the equipment that helps the elderly and disabled to function: canes, walkers and incontinence supplies. A friendly woman, identified as a certified support hose technician,
led us to a tiny room at the end of the store.
Using a measuring tape, she took measurements of my sister's ankles and calves as well as the length of her legs from foot to knee. Availability was restricted to beige or black stockings, she explained. Searching through the stack of boxes, she produced two brands. One product was more sheer than the other but the opaque stocking was cotton and would be cooler. When removed from the boxes, I was surprised to see that they were "knee-highs".
"Do you normally wear pants?" she asked. My sister replied that she wears shorts for nine months of the year. "In that case you'll probably want the opaque ones" the technician said. "They will look more trendy". Immediately I had an image of my sister walking down the street in shorts with chubby knees above her beige support hose. Maybe she would start a new trend!!
Removing one pair from the box, the technician began her tutorial on "The proper method for installation and removal of support hose". A pair of rubber gloves was essential for the task! The support hose fit very tightly and the gloves, with hundreds of little nubbles on the palms, help to push and pull them into position. "When removing them" she cautioned "make sure that you don't roll them down to your ankle because the compression increases and you would be applying a torniquet to your foot!" Yikes!! "This is much more serious than pulling on panty hose" she warned.
So, when we left the store 45 minutes later, my sister was wearing her new "trend setting" knee high, support hose and the technician was happy that her demonstration had been successful! I was happy that the outdoor temperature was under zero and this wasn't one of the days that my sister was wearing shorts!
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