Skeptics ask all the time, is shapewear just skin-deep? Are there any positive, long-term benefits? According to Vera Watkins, founder of Vera Vasi Shapewear, the answer is yes.

Few people know more about the cosmetic and health benefits from wearing compression garments than Watkins. For decades, her growing company has been supplying medical-grade compression wear to plastic surgeons and their patients around the world as a tool for skin retraction and smoothness post-surgery.

"Many people own tight-fitting athletic wear or body suits," Watkins said. "But these are not true compression garments. 

"A properly designed medical-grade compression garment applies an exact amount of pressure to the body, and provides several immediate and major long-term benefits when properly fitted and worn." 

Watkins said permanent reshaping happens due to three factors:

Improved Circulation:  When the tissues around a vein are compressed, muscle and tissue movements around the vein are magnified, and blood flow is enhanced, allowing more oxygen and nutrients in, and forcing waste products out.

The result? Wearers feel more energetic. Studies have shown that energy output increases by as much as 10-40%, but too much compression can interrupt circulation.

Micro-Massage:  The micro-massage effect is a stimulation of skin and the fluid under it that allows the body to process the fluid, smooth any tissue under the skin, and help skin retract to its prior shape. 

Physical Comfort:  A properly constructed, ultra-soft medical grade compression fabric that provides multi-dimensional stretch mimics the human skin by 'giving' with the body's natural movements and provides continuous comfort.

"Think of a compression garment as your wedding ring," Watkins said. "How long have you been wearing your ring without thinking about it? Now look at how it's been gently and permanently compressing your ring finger for all these past years and has actually changed the thickness of your finger. 

"Putting on your bodysuit for the first time is going to be very much like sliding on your wedding ring for the first time. One day you're going to look back and remember those events as two of the most important things that ever happened to you. "