Take them off before you get to full blown flare. You want them on just as long as you can tolerate it (it will hurt a lot...but there's a difference between pain and pain so bad you think you'll explode and you need to familiarize yourself with the difference).

I would time how long you have the socks on and gradually work on increasing the time period you can wear them. It will take a while...it wont happen overnight...but you can work your way up to a good amount of time. That's how it worked for me. If the socks are too much at first then just try laying them on the part of your foot that is worst at first as opposed to putting them on.