Comparison of Clothing Pressure in Compression Garments to Propose Allowable Pressure Levels

Yerin Park¹, Hee Eun Choi¹,²^†

1 Department of Fashion and Textiles, Seoul National University, Republic of Korea

2 Research Institute of Human Ecology, Seoul National University, Republic of Korea

Compression garments are designed to apply external pressure to the body surface to correct body shape or to support athletic performance and recovery, and they have evolved into various types such as corrective, sports, and medical use according to their purposes (Xiong et al., 2018). However, since the pressure applied to the body can cause discomfort depending on its intensity and may hinder the original purpose of the garment, it is essential to establish different permissible pressure ranges for each application. Therefore, this study aims to provide foundational data for future compression garment design and evaluation standards by comparing and analyzing clothing pressure values across different types of compression garments through a review of existing literature.

This study collected research including clothing pressure on the lower extremities published over the past 30 years and classified them into corrective, sports, and medical compression garments. Clothing pressure data reported in each paper were extracted specifically for the thigh, calf, and ankle, normalized to kPa units, and then the distribution of clothing pressure for each application was compared.

The results of the study showed that the average pressure by body part for corrective compression garments was the lowest among the three categories, with 0.66±0.22kPa for the thigh, 0.80±0.26 kPa for the calf, and 1.09±0.52 kPa for the ankle. This is estimated to be a result of the functional characteristics of garments intended for long-term wear. The clothing pressure of sports compression garments fell within an intermediate range of 1.71±1.10 kPa for the thigh, 2.13± 1.26 kPa for the calf, and 1.63±0.38 kPa for the ankle, which corresponds to an operational range that promotes muscle support and recovery without causing a decrease in mobility or thermal discomfort. The clothing pressure of medical compression garments was the highest, at 1.74±0.67 kPa for the thigh, 3.38± 1.26 kPa for the calf, and 3.23±1.42 kPa for the ankle. However, it was confirmed that compared to the German RAL-GZ 387/1 standards (Class I: 2.4–2.8 kPa, Class II: 3.1–4.3 kPa, Class III: 4.5–6.1 kPa, Class IV: ≥6.5$ kPa), the clothing pressure distribution in previous studies remained at a moderate intensity level (Class II).

Upon examining the differences in clothing pressure for the lower extremities (thigh, calf, and ankle) by compression garment type, corrective garments showed a gradual compression trend from the ankle to the thigh, while sports garments showed decreasing pressure in the order of calf, thigh, and ankle, and medical garments showed decreasing pressure in the order of calf, ankle, and thigh. This suggests that the required pressure area and intensity differ for each type of compression garment, demonstrating the necessity of garment design that considers the structural skeletal characteristics of the lower limbs and the material properties. Furthermore, considering the current lack of consistent permissible pressure standards for compression garments, follow-up research is required to verify and refine the range of permissible pressure through the linkage of standardized measurement protocols and clinical indicators.