question for those with leg hardware

[TrophyHusband 0]

i had some metal installed on my left fibula back in 2002. it looks like monkeycndo's only about 3 times longer. (i don't know how to link to his pic). i've never had any problems until the lately. for about a week or so its been sore, but in the last 2 days it has really started to hurt. i've been skiing or snowboarding once or twice a week for the last 4 weeks and i'm sure that's the cause. my question is, is this pain normal and can the hardware be removed?

"Your scrotum is quite nice" - Skymama
www.kjandmegan.com

[monkycndo 0]

A couple of drinks makes it hurt less.
My doc said I might be able to remove the hardware once it is fully healed, but only time will tell. Tell the wife it hurts and get some sympathy nooky. Well, it might work.

edit to add attachment.

And your welcome.

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[wildblue 4]

Got some of my own in 2002 as well. Every once in awhile it hurts like hell when I walk, but it only lasts a day or two. It seems to only come up in the winter when I'm out in the cold for awhile (but even then, not all the time) and sometimes it seems to stiffen up after I'm on the bike for awhile. When they put it in, doc said they could take it out if they ever needed to, but it hasn't bothered me enough or often enough for me to do it. I figure I'll put up with a bad day on occasion rather than have surgery again and be down for a few weeks.

it's like incest - you're substituting convenience for quality

[justtrouble03 0]

Well they probably can't or I should say won't remove it. Because if they do you run a very high chance of breaking the bone again. One of the reasons it could be hurting more now is because of the cold. Trust me on this one. From being out in the cold the metal will still stay cold long after you come back in side. Even though you don't notice it. The other reason is because the break was so close to the joint. (I'm not sure if your Doc told you this or not.) When you have a break, you will get arthritis in the joint closest to the break. And it does not matter how old or young you are. By the way I have metal in my jaw. I have also broken both my tibia, and fibula, and I tore my lateral and medal meniscus. I hope this as helped you.

[Shell666 0]

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Tell the wife it hurts and get some sympathy nooky. Well, it might work.

He might as well get some since you probably won't after your "Tired of Pussy" thread.

'Shell

[monkycndo 0]

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Tell the wife it hurts and get some sympathy nooky. Well, it might work.

He might as well get some since you probably won't after your "Tired of Pussy" thread.

Hey, don't start that thought. That is not even funny.

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[Shell666 0]

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Tell the wife it hurts and get some sympathy nooky. Well, it might work.

He might as well get some since you probably won't after your "Tired of Pussy" thread.

Hey, don't start that thought. That is not even funny.

Hey, I didn't start it ... you did!

'Shell

[monkycndo 0]

I just wanted the puppies back. Had nothing to do with withholding nooky. You are just plain evil.

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[NWFlyer 2]

I'm confused. Did you want the puppies or the pussy? Or both?

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[monkycndo 0]

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I'm confused. Did you want the puppies or the pussy? Or both?

I wanted the puppies back and the KITTIES to go away. I just said pussy in the thread title to get a rise out of you folks.

*giggle giggle, I said rise*

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[Shell666 0]

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I just wanted the puppies back. Had nothing to do with withholding nooky.

You are just plain evil.

And you're JUST figuring that out???

'Shell

[Shell666 0]

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I'm confused. Did you want the puppies or the pussy? Or both?

Oh, girl, you have your work cut out for you. Chalk it up to the drugs.

'Shell

[sunshine 2]

Mine acts up sometimes. Got my metal put in in 2004. I just take some Aleve (thats what my doc told me) and it seems to go away. If i sit for a long time, when i get up i need to be careful when i put weight on my right ankle cause sometimes it's not ready and kinda gives out. You get used to such things though. Like wildblue, mine doesn't bother me enough to have it taken out. A bad day every now and then is preferable to another surgery.

___________________________________________
meow

I get a Mike hug! I get a Mike hug!

[snowslider 0]

i don't know if I should ask you in a pm but if you don't mind, how did that happen? did you do that skydiving?

[jkm2500 0]

I have some hardware that was installed in 1999. It aches from time to time, however it has never been overly painful. It usually aches with extreme changes in barometric pressure. I usually take advil for the pain.

The primary purpose of the Armed Forces is to prepare for and to prevail in combat should the need arise.

[ACMESkydiver 0]

Funny you should mention it...

I hadn't thought about mine in a long time, but this morning, getting out of bed, it hurt for some reason...almost like the muscle was pulling across it and it hurt or something.

It kind of ached until I rotated my ankle a bit and changed the position.

It did bug me quite a bit right over one of the bolts for quite some time...like one of the bolts was pushing out of the bone. My mom broke her ankle and had similar pain as well (she had the same surgeon as I did, go figure! ). Anyhoo, hers has gone away as well.

Good luck.

~Jaye
Do not believe that possibly you can escape the reward of your action.

[TrophyHusband 0]

i did do it skydiving. it was kind of a freak thing. i was at the end of my swoop trying to milk the last few feet. i put my left foot down with my toes pointed a little to the outside (i didn't know i did this at the time, it was just apparent from the damage). i guess everything was lined up just right and i had just enoungh forward speed for my leg to break and my foot to dislocate from my leg bone. the cool thing was that i was going slow enough that my camera didn't pick up any wind noise but you can clearly hear the snapping of bones. funny thing is that all of my pain during the injury and recovery was around my ankle with all of the soft tissue damage there. this is acually the most pain i've felt around the broken bone.

thanks to everybody for the input. it sounds like its common to have a bad day every now and then. i agree that if it only hurts once in a while, i'll just deal with it rather than having it removed, but if its a cronic pain, then its got to go.

"Your scrotum is quite nice" - Skymama
www.kjandmegan.com

[popsjumper 2]

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My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[NWFlyer 2]

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I'm confused. Did you want the puppies or the pussy? Or both?

Oh, girl, you have your work cut out for you. Chalk it up to the drugs.

I think he's just confused. But I'll consider this a PSA for all the men on here ... usually spending some time with the puppies will make it more likely that you get the opportunity to spend some time with the pussy too.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[swedishcelt 0]

Get it xrayed. My plate actually broke in half (it was 7 1/2 " long, had 8 screws in it) and for a little while where it broke it had curved under a bit and was pressing a nerve.

[TrophyHusband 0]

i didn't even think that it could be broken. the pain is acute and right in the middle of the plate. its not as sore today, but if the pain persists, i'll have it looked at.

"Your scrotum is quite nice" - Skymama
www.kjandmegan.com

[tigra 0]

I've had two broken ankles 5 years apart, really similar injuries. I ended up with plates and screws in the fibula, pins/ small screws in the tibia. And I had all the hardware removed both times within about 2 years.

The first time, the screws on the fib side were visible within about six months and the ones in my tibia were painful pretty much every day. My doctor took one look at the screws and said he take them out whenever I was ready.

The last time, the hardware wasn't bothering me as much, but I could definitely tell it was there and I could feel it, especially when I did a lot of walking. But I didn't realize just how much it was bothering me until it was gone. I had just gotten used to the discomfort and considered it normal.

With any surgery, you need to look at risk vs. reward. For some people, another surgery isn't worth what you'll gain. For me, it was.

I think you'll find the sports medicine specialists more open to hardware removal than the more conservative orthos who make most of their money on hip and knee replacements in older patients. And as far as you're being at a greater risk to re-break the bone- well, unless you've got problems with bone growth, the bone should only be significantly weaker for 6-8 weeks while the holes fill in. My first OS strongly recommended removing the hardware when the time was right because he felt I was young and healthy enough that bone growth wasn't an issue, and active enough that I'd notice the difference.

[squarecanopy 0]

Hey Thomas,
My plates in my right tibia/fibia ache slightly when we have a large barometric/temperature change. It really is slight compared to yours, so it sounds like Swedishcelt's advice is something you should think about. I broke mine in May 2004, was off jumping 15 months, but now I can run 2 miles at a time with no pain, wakeboard all week, softball, etc. I would worry if it is hurting alot, I would go see the Doc.
I did talk to the ortho surgeon who screwed me back together about removing the implants. He is a really good doctor whom I respect alot, his opinion was unless the plate causes problems leave it alone. It is expensive to remove, and of course the recovery time from the surgery means no jumps for a while.
BSSL, Bill

Just burning a hole in the sky.....