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Compression socks may prevent nausea and loose bowels during marathons

Stomach cramps and the urgent need for the toilet on long runs may partly be caused by decreased blood flow damaging gut cells. Compression socks reduce signs of this damage in marathon runners
Runner in compression socks running on road in mountains
Wearing compression socks during a marathon may help prevent damage to gut cells
sportpoint/Alamy

Wearing compression socks may reduce the intestinal damage thought to cause cramping, nausea and other stomach troubles sometimes associated with endurance running.

During intense exercise, some people experience what’s known as “runner’s stomach” – the sudden onset of symptoms that can include nausea, cramping and the urgent need to use the toilet. Also known as exercise-induced gastrointestinal syndrome, it seems to affect people regardless of their fitness level.

Previous research suggested that these symptoms may in part be caused by during extended periods of running.

“That means places that don’t get as much blood flow have a lack of oxygen and nutrients so the cells in those areas can become damaged,” says at the University of Tasmania in Australia. The cell damage can lead to gastrointestinal symptoms.

Compression socks are thought to improve blood flow to the trunk of the body by limiting pooling in the lower legs. Edwards and her colleagues suspected this might reduce running-related intestinal damage.

To test this, they recruited 46 adults running in the 2016 Gold Coast Marathon in Australia that had no history of metabolic or blood clotting conditions. No runners wore compression garments the day before the race and half wore none during the race. The other half wore knee-high compression socks from the morning of the marathon until they finished the race. The researchers collected blood samples from everyone 24 hours before the marathon and again shortly after they crossed the finish line.

The researchers then analysed the samples for a protein called intestinal fatty acid-binding protein, which is released when the lining of the intestines becomes damaged. While there was no significant difference in blood levels of this protein between the two groups before the race, there was a big difference afterwards: in the control group, levels increased by 107 per cent on average, but in the group that wore compression socks, average levels increased by just 38 per cent. That suggests compression socks can reduce intestinal damage by maintaining blood flow to the gut, says Edwards.

at Drexel University in Pennsylvania says that the study didn’t confirm whether the socks actually increased central blood volume in the runners. “That’s kind of an assumption in this study. They don’t really measure that.” The study also didn’t account for how nutrition and exercise intensity can reduce gastrointestinal damage, he says.

For this small, initial study, researchers also didn’t collect information on whether the runners normally experience gastrointestinal symptoms when running or whether they felt the compression socks reduced such symptoms. “But that’s great to look out for in the next study that we do,” says Edwards.

If you do struggle with runner’s stomach, Edwards says this research suggests it may be worth trying compression socks.

“What I tell people is that the research is inconclusive at this time,” says Maschi. “But there’s no harm in using them.”

Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research

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Topics: exercise