I've been thinking about Wahine's earlier post. I am an active, petite, woman. I don't know that I "have" to have the hardware out but I'm pretty sure that it's causing some problems. I've spoken with a couple of men who had ankle hardware installed years ago and never had any problems with it. I don't personally know any women who have had an ankle surgically repaired so I can't take a poll. Still, I wonder if Wahine is on to something.