5 Key Benefits of Elevating Your Legs + Why It Feels So Good (2024)

Whether you struggle with sore legs, swelling in the lower limbs, or recurrent pregnancy edema, elevating your legs can give you many benefits. It can help soothe the muscles, reduce pressure on your blood vessels (especially in the legs), and make you feel better overall.

With over20% of US adults (over 51 years old) complaining aboutedema, doctors and physical therapists recommend elevating the legs among other simple, at-home remedies. In this article, we will cover the five key benefits of elevating your legs and teach you how to maximize the benefits of putting your legs up the wall after a long day on your feet.

The Benefits of Elevating Your Legs

Because our leg veins struggle to fight the downward pressure of gravity when we stand or sit all day, simply elevating the legs above the heart can yield health benefits and relieve leg heaviness.

1. Improves Circulation

Poor leg circulation can be caused by the downward force of gravity, increased blood volume during pregnancy, or weakened leg veins caused byhealth conditions. Each of these makes it harder for the blood to circulate back towards the heart, leading to blood pooling around your ankles and in the lower legs.

Elevating your legs reverses the effects of gravity. It uses gravity to help blood flow out of the legs and back towards the heart. Thisresearch study concluded that elevating your legs can provide benefits to circulation, especially if you have venous insufficiency or congestion. If you put your legs up against the wall or propped up on a few cushions, you will feel an almost immediate relief as blood flows back up and throughout the body. We’ve put together a guide for elevating your legshere.

2. Reduces Swelling and Inflammation

According to amedical report, patients withlocalized swelling or edema are advised to elevate their legs and wear compression socks - especially for people suffering from chronic venous insufficiency. Reversing the force of gravity allows weakened veins and valves to help blood flow back towards the heart. This reduces the volume of fluid in the ankles and lower legs to provide relief from swelling and discomfort.

Moreover, the improved blood flow helps bring down inflammation if you’ve just sprained an ankle or you’re suffering from pain and discomfort in the lower legs. According to thisstudy from the Journey of Athletic Training, elevation reduces inflammation by increasing the fluid drainage from the injured or swollen limb.

3. Relieves Leg and Foot Discomfort

People whostand a lot every day will naturally experience pain and discomfort in the feet and legs. The pressure from gravity can impede good blood flow out from the limbs, which causes swelling and inflammation. Also, if you stand all day, your feet and ankles are likely to become sore, depending on the shoes you wear and on your activity.

To get the benefits of leg elevation for pain,one key medical review found that you should follow a specific protocol. Elevate your legs at or above heart level 3-4 times a day for at least 30 minutes. This improves your microcirculation, reduces swelling, and may help relieve pain, especially if you have circulation problems like venous insufficiency or venous stasis.

Simply lifting your feet to be level or above your heart to allow them to rest can reduce pain from these sources. You can use a small chair or ottoman placed in front of you to relax on the couch at home, or a footrest under your desk if you work in an office. Forconstruction workers or other professionals who walk and stand a lot, it’s important to invest in good quality, comfortable shoes and use graduated compression socks in soft and flexible fabrics to keep feet and ankles supported while boosting peripheral blood flow.

4. Promotes Relaxation and Stress Relief

Lowering the pressure on your legs and adopting a comfortable position by elevating them is synonymous with stress relief. So, simply recline on the couch, with your legs propped on a few cushions, and enjoy your favorite book or movie. Or lie down on the bed and bring your legs up against the wall for complete relaxation and to improve your circulation. In each of these settings, you are simply forced to switch off and adopt a calmer, tension-free mood. It is great for winding down after work or a long day of travel.

5. Aides in Injury Recovery

If you’veinjured your lower leg, elevation is one of the first actions you can do to bring down swelling and inflammation. Besides, it forces you to rest, which is essential to heal injuries like asprained ankle, calf muscle, or Achilles’ tendon. Elevation also reduces pain, particularly in the ankle and foot. This reduces the pressure your body is putting on the injury. Of course, you should always consult with a medical professional if you have a serious injury or if the rest, ice, compression and elevation (RICE) approach does not lead to improvements.

Why Does Elevating Your Legs Feel So Good?

Lifting the legs above heart level and reaping the benefits of improved blood flow is soothing, relaxing, and re-energizing. The reasons elevating your legs feels good include:

• Taking the load of your body off your feet, allowing them to relax and recover.
• Stimulating venous return, which helps reduce inflammation and swelling to soothe your lower leg muscles.
• Reducing pressure on your leg veins, which boosts blood flow and can increase your energy levels overall.
• Resting the feet, which reduces soreness from standing or wearing tight shoes or high heels.
• Helping the circulatory system bring oxygenated blood to the lower leg muscles, which reduces muscle fatigue and soreness after working out.

How to Maximize the Benefits of Elevating Your Feet

While elevating the your already provide amazing benefits for tired and sore muscles and joints, you can optimize the benefits of leg elevation with a few added steps. Here are our favorite complementary strategies to use alongside raising your legs off the ground.

Wear Compression Socks

If you suffer fromchronic venous insufficiency, leading to poor peripheral circulation and often swelling and discomfort, elevating the legs regularly supports venous return and reduces your symptoms of discomfort. But what about the times when you cannot lift your legs up? This is where compression socks come in. The design of graduated compression socks is such that they are tighter at the ankles and slowly release the grip on the lower legs as they move up. Research has found that this design improves blood circulation in your legs to reduce swelling and leaves you feeling energized. Effectively, it is another tool to help you improve peripheral circulation while you are on your feet or sitting down at work.

The huge advantage of wearing high-quality graduated compression socks like those in is that they can be worn anytime, anywhere. They are stylish and comfortable, while alsoproven effective for boosting peripheral circulation. Whenever you are stuck on a long-haul flight or working on your feet as a nurse or teacher, you will not be able to take a break and lift your legs up. You can, however, wear your compression socks, helping to prevent many of the symptoms that we try to relieve with leg elevation. If you are looking to maximize the benefits of leg elevation, wearing compression socks can enhance the reduction in swelling or pain that leg elevation provides.

Try “Legs Up the Wall” Pose

When we talk about elevating the legs, we normally refer to putting them up on a couch or chair, preferably above heart level, with the help of some cushions or pillows. An even more effective method to support lower leg blood flow is to put your legs “up the wall.”

Lying on your back on the bed or on a yoga mat, position yourself so that you can lift your legs perpendicular to the ground and propped against a wall. You may need someone to help you get in position. Ultimately, you will need to get your legs to an angle of between 45 and 90 degrees. Supporting the legs against the wall makes this easier (as opposed to lifting the legs unsupported).

So, how long should you elevate your legs? Spend 20-30 minutes in this position, or however long is comfortable (try to avoid getting “pins and needles” or sore muscles). And how often should you elevate your legs? Stanford Health Care reports that 3-4 times a day will let you get the benefits you are looking for.

This position not only stimulates the blood and fluid drainage out of the legs to reduce swelling, but it also reduces pressure on the lower back from sitting in front of a computer all day. It is a great way to help your feet and legs recover after intense exercise, helping drain excess fluid and boost circulation to your aching muscles.

Practice Self-Leg Massage

Massaging the limbs is another way to stimulate circulation and soothe the muscles and feet when they are sore. Compression socks apply therapeutic pressure that feels like a light massage, especially for the calf muscles. If you are looking for more, you can work on a few at-home techniques:

• Light kneading and squeezing of the leg muscles, focusing on sore areas.
• Chopping or percussion motions (more effective on bigger muscle groups, e.g., your thighs).
• Rolling with a ball or foam roller.

Learn more about self-massage for improved circulationhere.

Apply Cold Compresses or Ice

Ice packs and cold therapy are other known remedies for poor peripheral circulation causing swelling, inflammation and pain. While the research suggests that hot baths or compresses are effective at increasing blood flow, cold therapy is better for reducing pain and inflammation. It numbs the affected area, too, which is great if you suffer from sore feet.

Use some ice packs or even a bag of frozen peas which can be wrapped around an injury with a towel around them for protecting the skin. For cold compresses, simply run them under cold water and then replace them when they reach the same temperature as your skin. Cooling sprays are also great for temporary relief.

Hydrate and Get Your Body Moving

When you are tired or sore, it can be tempting to reduce activity levels. However, this can have negative effects on your mobility and peripheral circulation. Over time, low levels of activity can lead to poor blood flow, swelling, and discomfort. Instead, try to go for a few brisk walks a week to get your blood flowing and build muscle strength. In fact,one clinical study found that walking wearing compression stockings significantly reduces pain and swelling. So, walking or moving around will help you feel better if you spend a lot of time on your feet.

In addition to walking, stretching is great forimproving circulation and soothing the legs, especially as you get older. Perform a few gentlestretches in between long bouts of sitting or standing, and again before going to bed. If you are on a flight or at work, getting up, walking a little, and then stretching all help prevent blood and fluid from building up in the lower legs, making you more comfortable later.

Finally, hydration is essential for healthy blood flow. Drinking water can help reduce the risk of cramping, too. TheMayo Clinic advises that the guidelines from the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine for fluid intake are:

• About 3.7 liters for men (or 15.5 cups)
• About 2.7 liters for women (or 11.5 cups)

That sounds like a lot, but around 20% of this will come from your food. This means you need to make sure you consume fruits and vegetables (which are high in water) along with your tea or coffee, but of course, good amounts of water, too.

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Lifting your legs above the heart is a validated way to reduce pressure on your legs and feet, soothe them, and improve blood flow out of the legs and back towards the heart. In addition to improving blood flow, leg elevation can reduce swelling and inflammation, helps us relax, and improve with injury recovery. To boost the benefits of leg elevation, you can wear stylish and comfortable compression socks throughout the day (reducing the risk of swelling and fluid build-up in the first place). Some other complementary actions include massaging the legs, propping them up against a wall, staying active, using cold therapy, and staying hydrated.

References:

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Carvalho, C. A., Lopes Pinto, R., Guerreiro Godoy, M.deF., & Pereira de Godoy, J. M. (2015). Reduction of Pain and Edema of the Legs by Walking Wearing Elastic Stockings. International journal of vascular medicine, 2015, 648074. Read ithere.

Hotta, K., Behnke, B. J., Arjmandi, B., Ghosh, P., Chen, B., Brooks, R., Maraj, J. J., Elam, M. L., Maher, P., Kurien, D., Churchill, A., Sepulveda, J. L., Kabolowsky, M. B., Christou, D. D., & Muller-Delp, J. M. (2018). Daily muscle stretching enhances blood flow, endothelial function, capillarity, vascular volume and connectivity in aged skeletal muscle. The Journal of physiology, 596(10), 1903–1917. Read ithere.

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