I broke my ankle in January. I have two plates and 10 screws and kevelar wire in there used to stabilize the bones while they healed. I still get a lot of pain with normal activities and can't walk far without paying for it. It feels like my achilles tendon is rubbing on the bottom edge of the plate on the back of my tibia. And I get pain both above and below the plate on my fibula. At the time of my surgery I asked the surgeon how long the hardware would need to stay in there. He said it could be in there for the rest of my life. He said all surgeries have risks and costs and removing the hardware may not help with the discomfort and I may have to just live with it. I'll probably get a second Opinion. I'm just wondering if any of my trapper friends have experience with this and any advice?

Have any of you had hardware put in for a broken ankle? Did it eventually heal and the discomfort subside or did you have it removed? If you had it removed did it substantially help with the discomfort? Would you recommend surgery to remove it?

I say get a second opinion , The worst they say is the same as the first DR.

My son broke both bones just above his ankle . Plates and screws but the next year they removed them . He was having the some problems you are describing.
Pain free now. One thing is for sure IF you don't do something different you will have the same effect. Man up and cut it out yourself. LOL I think it's allen headed screws so have one handy before you cut.

Had to have screws and wire taken back out of my ankle Dan. The screws were backing themselves out and the wire as you know causes lots of pain moving around and rubbing. If you are in that much pain get a second opinion. Not sure if removing the screws helped me much but getting rid of the wire was a big relief. I still have some screws left in and a plate

Dan, I feel the pain, Had a motorcycle accident mid May, Fracture of the left tibia, Up under the knee & fracture just above the ankle. Just started to put weight on it 2 weeks ago & lots of pain and swelling. Had plates, straps & screws installed. Going to be a long recovery. All I can say, Is to take it slow. I asked my Doctor that did my knee surgery years ago for a second opinion, Seems he didn't want to get involved. Yea, most of the pain now is wear hardware was installed.

I have had two friends who both double rutted, landing from jumps on dirt bike courses. Both smashed an ankle and lower leg into tiny fragments of bone. Both had huge amounts of metal and plastic hardware put in to replace and hook bone together. Both were bed ridden for many months. Both, after healing, had multiple surgeries to remove most of the material. Both still have some pieces of metal in them, over 20 years later.

Keith

check with your doc , but if he/she doesn't think they need to be there , get them out

the human body isn't intended to be full of metal , my dad has a bunch of metal that has to be there spinal support cage , artificial hip and shoulder , he hurts with weather changes , he hurts less than having worn out joints and a lot of pinched nerves in his back , but he still hurts , part of why he winters in FL hot and sunny makes for low pain

I get tight and sore from old injuries , but having metal in just makes it worse

Dan, my hardware was in my right hand and wrist to hold stuff in place while the wrist fused together with bones taken from my hip for wedges. I had a lot of trouble with the hardware and had it removed after about five years. I wish I had it done as soon as it did it's job. Getting it out brought a lot of relief.

I’d definitely get a second opinion. A new doc will make sure you are actually healed and not getting pain from a non union of the bones. If it is actually fully healed and your pain is not coming from the joint itself I personally would remove hardware. There is a chance of a new fracture after hardware is removed as the screw holes are a weak point. A lot of surgeons will back fill them with an injectable bone graft to help the holes remodel quicker. Your surgeon will probably tell you to take it easy during that phase. Good luck.

If the hardware is not causing a problem, I'd leave it alone . I had a knee replaced a second time and the new and improved knee is worse than the 2006 model. More surgery will probably result in more scarring and tissue damages.

Funny how we ask fellow trappers for medical opinions. I do the same all the time. Trust your ortho surgeon for an educated and experienced opinion.

I broke my right ankle January of 1999. Had two plates, screws, and wire put in it. I was pretty disappointed with the recovery until about the one year mark. I very rarely notice it now and can generally walk for miles with no problems. I'd recommend giving it more time.

Cousin snapped his ankle, had all the hardware and the pain wouldn't go away , he had it removed and the pain went away in time. Took him about 2 years to get back to normal.

I broke my fibula right above the ankle. Also tore the ligaments on the other side of my ankle that had to be sewn back together. I had one long screw put in that went through the fibula and into the tibia. I was in a cast but doc warned me not to put any pressure on it at all or I might bend that screw and it would be heck getting it back out. After six weeks they took the screw out and put me in a walking cast for another six weeks.

Fast forward 30 years my ankle hurts all the time and if I'm on my feet a lot I'm limping by the end of the day.

I guess I was lucky. I've got 4 long screws through the top of my tibia and metal on both sides of my ankle since 2012, and no problems. Doctor said he could take them out if I wanted, but I'd prefer to avoid a hospital experience.

I had some pain in my ankle for 5 or 6 months, but never since.

Good luck.

Pete

Charles I don't usually respond to someone’s comment on here but I can’t help myself after reading so many of your opinions on everything. You gave Dan a hard time about asking trappers for medical advice. Do you know what the thousands of us do for a living? You sure don’t. You also told him to just trust his orthopedic surgeon even if he still has pain. Do you know what they call a guy that finishes last in medical school? They call him doctor. You also compared your cemented in total knee being torn out and revised to an ankle plate and screw removal. I can’t even think of an analogy to compare those two procedures because they are so far from each other in risk and difficulty. Charles I’m a part of hardware removal surgeries weekly and knee revisions on multiple occasions through out the year so that’s why I commented. Dan didn’t ask for people who’ve had a total knee revision to give him advice on his ankle. Stick with climate change, vaccines, and other government propaganda as you seem to have great knowledge on that.

Thanks for the replies.