The hysteresis effect of Herzog compression stockings: what does it mean?

What is the hysteresis effect?

Hysteresis describes the difference between the way an elastic material behaves during stretching and during retraction.

With Herzog compression stockings, the elastic yarns are constantly in motion. When you put on the stocking, the yarns are stretched. During movement, the tension in the yarns then changes repeatedly. When the load decreases, the yarns relax again.

The stretching and relaxing process does not occur in exactly the same way. The tension created at a certain stretch is different during stretching than during retraction. We call this difference hysteresis.

For a regular sock, this effect is hardly relevant to the product's performance. For a Herzog compression stocking, where the properties of the yarn are a direct component of the compression technique, this is much more important. As a user, you want the stocking to continue to exert the same pressure both at rest and during movement.

Hysteresis during exercise

While running, walking, or engaging in other sports, the shape of your calf changes continuously. Your muscles contract and relax, which in turn changes the circumference of your leg.

The Herzog stocking moves along with this. The yarns are loaded and then unloaded during every movement. This constantly creates a difference between the state in which the yarn is stretched and the state in which it relaxes again.

This is precisely why the hysteresis effect is interesting in a sports compression stocking. It shows that the effectiveness of the stocking is not determined solely by how tightly it fits around your leg when you are standing still. The behavior of the material during movement also plays a role.

Herzog combines these properties of the yarns with a precise compression gradient. The PRO compression stockings were developed with a medical backgroundand feature a graduated, diminishing pressure profile: the pressure is highest around the ankle and gradually decreases towards the knee.

In this regard, the fitis also important. Herzog measures the leg at six points, because a shoe size or calf circumference at only one location is insufficient to determine an accurate compression gradient.

The hysteresis effect is therefore one part of a larger whole: the combination of yarns, knitting structure, compression, and sizing determines how the Herzog stocking behaves and fits around the leg, even during movement.