Hi all,
I’ve had a look through some of the previous posts around hardware removal but still can’t seem to make my mind up lol
I’m nearly 7 months post op and at the point where my surgeon said I need to think about making an appointment to start the process/get on the list for hardware removal if I want it as I have ‘pretty bulky’ metal work in his words
I’m so torn. My recovery has been so smooth and quick but the past few weeks I’ve been experiencing soft tissue pain at the back of the ankle and occasionally a deep pain around the edge of the medial plate though I cannot work out what sets this off. I also can’t tell what (if any) of this pain is from the metalwork and what is muscular/tendons etc.
I never had pt for it so not sure if maybe that’s where I should start and see if the pain subsides?
The lateral plate rarely causes issues though there is a prominent screw directly on the bone which impacts sitting cross legged.
I’m a very active person and don’t want the metal to cause issues in the future but equally, the ankle had always been and is now even moreso weaker than the right one so concerned another break could happen again if I have it out.
I’m high risk for arthritis in the ankle due to cartilage damage anyway so not sure if that could be made better or worse with another surgery?
Anyway. Thats my thought process written down, if anyone has any other thoughts, experiences etc I’d be very grateful to hear