First post, sorry if this is the wrong section.
Inguinal hernia repair three and a half weeks ago, keyhole, all went fine. Surgeon was happy for me to fly so I went to see my brother as planned, five and a half hours each way. Flew back Saturday. Did the stockings, did the water, got up I think three times.
Since about lunchtime yesterday the back of my left calf has been aching. Not agony. Like I have done too many stairs. It is a bit tight when I point my toes up. I cannot honestly tell if it is swollen because I keep comparing it with the other one and then not being sure.
I did walk a LOT at my brother's, more than I have since the op, so part of me thinks it is just that. The other part of me has read the leaflet. Is this the sort of thing people wait a day on or not?
Not a wait a day thing, Gareth. One sided calf ache after a long flight and a recent operation is exactly the combination they want to look at, even if it turns out to be your brother's stairs. Ring 111 tonight and say those words. They will not think you are wasting anyone's time.
#3September 23, 2026, 7:50 am Deborah is right, and I would put it more firmly: please get this assessed today rather than watching it.
The reason is not that it is likely to be a clot. Plenty of calf aches after a busy few days are muscular. The reason is that you have two of the things that raise clot risk at the same time. Surgery raises the risk of venous thromboembolism for up to 8 to 12 weeks afterwards, and a flight of more than 4 hours raises it again, and you are three and a half weeks out with a five and a half hour flight behind you. Pain mainly in one calf, especially with tightness, warmth, tenderness or swelling, is the pattern a clinician needs to examine, and the only way to tell a strain from a clot reliably is to be assessed, usually with a blood test and sometimes an ultrasound scan.
Two things that change it from same-day to an emergency: sudden breathlessness, or chest pain that is worse when you breathe in, or coughing up blood. Any of those means 999, not 111.
For anyone reading later, the difference between ordinary swelling after a flight and the kind that needs looking at is set out in swollen legs and feet on a flight after surgery, and who is most at risk and why is in blood clots on flights after surgery. Neither replaces being seen today. Whether this is a clot is a question for the clinician examining your leg, not for a forum.
Went through this after my knee. Rang, was seen same day, blood test, scan the next morning, nothing there. I felt a bit daft for about an hour and then relieved for about a week. Daft is fine.
Update. Rang 111 yesterday morning, they got me into the same day clinic at the hospital by the afternoon. Bloods, then an ultrasound this morning because the blood test was "not conclusive", which the nurse said is very common after an operation.
Scan clear. No clot. The doctor thinks it is a strained calf from going up and down my brother's hill five times a day after weeks of barely walking. Told to keep moving, not to overdo hills, and to come back straight away if it gets worse or if I get short of breath.
Thank you Deborah, I would genuinely have waited.
Two weeks on, for completeness. Calf is back to normal, I am walking a mile or so a day and the hernia side is the only thing I notice now. The thing I will do differently next time is build the walking up before a trip instead of going from nothing to a hill.
