Background

Compression therapy is an extremely effective treatment modality, the efficacy of which is frequently underestimated or neglected. There are important areas in medicine in which compression therapy (CT) could be beneficial to patients but is not used because of lack of knowledge of the prescribers. There are countries in which CT has no tradition and is unknown to patients who could profit from it. Only few medical indications for CT are endorsed by evidence based medicine.At the present time it is extremely difficult to convince the vast group of medical people who are not specifically interested or lack knowledge about the merits of good compression, because the arguments in favour of CT are weak, and our standards are vague or non-existent. In addition, patients are often unaware of CT or do not experience the benefits due to poor compliance.As long as we are unable to give the right dosage for the individual patient and as long as we do not agree how this should be measured, then CT will remain an obscure treatment modality, underestimated and underreported.

Goals: 
Although the ICC does not have any regulatory power, proposals elaborated by joint working groups of experts from the medical field and the industry will hopefully be able to provide a valuable basis for further  improvements of  internationally accepted regulations and guidelines. Working groups consisting of medical experts and representatives of the industry are invited to cooperate in the following activities:

• Organize meetings in which several problems of common interest to both groups can be discussed,
• Develop and deliver consensus reports and recommendations,
• Organize teaching courses on CT ,
• Guidance on experimental and clinical trials,
• Plan and coordinate effective communication and education
• Give recommendations for indications and classification  of compression products.