broken ankle surgery hardware

[Artista]

I broke my tibia and fibula and dislocated my ankle in a mountain bike crash almost exactly a year ago. I still have a plate and multiple screws on each side. I can cycle, clip in and out, run, hike, and jump. I have some range of motion limitations and cannot squat nor wear high heels. My ankle is very stiff for the first minute or so when I get up in the middle of the night and in the morning. The last time that my damaged ankle wasn't swollen was when I put on my shoe the morning that I crashed.

I'm not certain whether I'll have the hardware removed. I'm not keen on more surgery with no guarantee that my ankle will improve after surgery. I can live with not being able to squat and not wearing high heels. I'm just not sure how my range of motion limitations and morning stiffness may impact my mobility when I am much, much, older and less active. I'll talk with my surgeon and physical therapist again this winter to see what they think.

I was horrified at the thought of having metal surgically implanted into my body when I broke my ankle. It was my first surgery and my first hospitalization for anything other than child birth. I felt a lot of pressure to come up with every reason to have the hardware removed asap. I never would have believed that I would be on the fence about having it removed a year later.

Don't worry about making a decision about the hardware right now. The hardware may be bothersome from the get-go like GLC's and then the decision to have it removed will be easy. Otherwise, you'll probably have up to 2 years to rehab your ankle and decide whether the hardware is keep-able or not.