Your daytime garment does a lot of work while you're up and moving. But many people with lymphedema find that without compression overnight, swelling creeps back while they sleep. A nighttime garment is designed to keep that from happening, so you wake up holding on to the progress you made during the day.
Daytime vs. nighttime garments at a glance
Purpose: Daytime garments control swelling while you're up and moving. Nighttime garments maintain the reduction while you rest.
Material: Daytime garments are an elastic knit with high working pressure. Nighttime garments use padded foam or channel fabric with low resting pressure.
Feel: Daytime garments are snug and thin and fit under clothing. Nighttime garments are soft, bulky and quilted.
Examples: Daytime: stockings, sleeves, gauntlets and flat-knit garments. Nighttime: padded sleeves and leggings and foam-lined wraps.
When worn: Daytime garments from morning until bedtime. Nighttime garments overnight or while resting.
Don't sleep in your daytime garment
Daytime garments are built to work with an active body and moving muscles. When you lie down, their firm pressure is more than you need, and the fabric can fold or bunch at the elbow, wrist or knee. That can dig in like a tight band and make swelling worse. Day garments also wear out faster when worn 24 hours a day. Unless your therapist tells you otherwise, take your day garment off at bedtime.
How night garments work
Night garments are made for rest. They are softer and bulkier, often with foam channels or small chip-filled pockets inside, and many close with adjustable straps.
Gentle, cushioned pressure that is comfortable for sleeping
Foam or chip padding that helps fluid move and can soften firm, thickened tissue
Adjustable straps that let you snug the fit as swelling changes
Easier than nightly bandaging, which many patients find hard to keep up at home
What the research shows
In a 2022 randomized trial of 120 women with breast cancer–related lymphedema, published in the journal Cancer, those who added nighttime compression (either a night garment or bandaging) to their daytime sleeve controlled their arm swelling better than those who wore a daytime sleeve alone. The benefit was gradual, which is why wearing night compression consistently matters.
Who benefits most
Your therapist may recommend a night garment if:
Your swelling is worse in the morning
Your swelling isn't fully controlled by a daytime garment
You have moderate to severe lymphedema or firm, thickened tissue (fibrosis)
You were bandaging at night during treatment, or would otherwise need to bandage every night
You're finishing therapy and want to keep the reduction you've gained
What insurance covers
Under the Lymphedema Treatment Act, Medicare covers 2 nighttime garments per affected body part every 24 months, and many other plans follow the same rule. Lost or damaged garments can be replaced. We check your plan's benefits in writing before anything is ordered.
Night garment options we carry
Jobst: JoViPak and JOBST Relax foam-channel garments
L&R: TributeNight custom foam garments; ReadyWrap
medi: Circaid Profile night garments
Sigvaris: Compreflex wraps and night garments
Juzo: foam-channel night garments
Night garments are available for the arm, hand, leg, foot and chest. Your therapist will help decide which style fits your needs.
Tips for wearing it
Put it on at bedtime and wear your day garment once you're up.
Follow your therapist's sizing; tell them about any numbness, pain or skin marks.
Wash it as the label directs, usually on a gentle cycle.
Ask us about adding a night garment at your next fitting. Call (800) 883-1549, text (517) 657-5223 or email customersupport@midwestcompression.com.
Helpful resources
This article is general information, not medical advice. Talk with your doctor or lymphedema therapist about your care.
