Healing tissues are more swollen than normal tissue and this swelling may last for several months.  Ankle swelling is due to the fact that each time we take a step the calf muscles contract and help pump blood back to the heart. If you are not putting full weight on the leg, the pump is not as effective and fluid builds up around the ankle.  By the end of the day lots of people complain their ankle is more swollen.

This information is an extract from ‘A patient’s guide to total hip replacement’, a document created to enhance our patients' recovery after a hip replacement. The complete document is available to download here.