[Closed] Just had my pins and plate removed after 11years

Anybody else had this done?

Looking at that x-ray, thankfully not!

Get well soon.

My mum had her entire right knee replaced on Tuesday. She was walking up and down stairs yesterday. 😯

Wow, good luck. Out of interest, why'd they get removed after so long? Curious as my shoulder was reconstructed with many plates, screws, pins 12 years ago and it's all still in there and I assume, always will be

I've got the same question as Aus...

Does it feel lighter? (I'd have to weigh the screws and put it on my weightweenie whiteboard)

Every couple of years they xray and poke and prod at mine and suck their teeth and go "Well, we'd like all that out, it's definitely doing you no good. But taking it out will do you no good either. Heads or tails?"

I'd say taking them out by the heads would be the easiest

Looks familiar, I also broke both heals about 11 years ago and have very similar looking feet to that. Just wondering why your getting yours removed? I've not had any problems with mine so far apart from stiff feet after a days walking or standing but that has only got better over the years.
Hope it recovers well I'd imagine the bone will be quite weak for a while after having that much metalwork removed.

I love that the X-ray makes it look like you were keeping spare chain "quick links" in your socks! 😉

Sat here with a couple of stitches in my elbow from a silly off at the mo..........

Looking at the pic is making my feet go funny. I have a load of screws and plates in my knee, its been there for 10.5 years. When I had it done they said something about maybe taking it out one day but I've never heard anything. I then ended up seeing the orthopaedic surgeon who did it when I broke my wrist a few years later and he didn't really seem bothered that they were still in there.

Going...
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Going...
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Going...
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Gone! Foot successfully removed from the leg and ankle bone crushed
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The nice man at Southampton General managed to bolt it back on though which was a relief
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I had the two big bolts taken out last summer when they realised they wouldn't be amputating and that the bolts were impinging the movement

I had a dislocated ankle + two severed ligaments and compound fracture to the fib (rugby, silly game) fixed with a bolt, plate and six screws. They came out after a year because I didn't fancy them still being in there if/when it got broken again (hasn't happened... yet). Then did a 25 mile hike 4-5 weeks later, which was foolish - not because of the op or lack of pins but because I'd not done any other exercise in a year and had turned into a fat unfit ****er!

Better out than in, I say

Before:

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After:

[URL= http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff167/LukeBurstow/oldstuff/008.jp g" target="_blank">http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff167/LukeBurstow/oldstuff/008.jp g"/> [/IMG][/URL]

taken out after about 2 years as my thigh muscles kept getting trapped between the heads and the edges of tables and stuff.

This thread is starting to look a little like the B&Q "hardware" section.......

My ankle pins/plates have been in for 12 years plus now and I'm really hoping they don't have to come out. Interested to know what factors are relevant in deciding whether they stay or go.

Nice to see others have metal in.

It has been a hard decision to have them removed as its a gamble whether I will have less pain afterwards. The front of the plate was over lapping the cuboid and that was catching and causing pain first thing in the morning. The back of the plate curled over the back of the heel bone near the Achilles tendon. He has also taken out the bursa which he reckons was causing pain as it was inflamed. 2 pins have been left in because he could not see them.
I have been thinking about having them out for 4-5yrs and there is never a good time to have something like this done.
24hrs since they came out. They would not let me keep the pins and plate due to infection control! I did have them in my bag but the theatre manager came and snatched them back.
Just waiting for the wound to heal. I have been told to weight bare straight away, but I am giving it a couple of days to knit together first.

I am 41 how old are the rest of you with metal in?

Jesus, and I've been whinging about being off the bike for 4 weeks with some soft tissue damage after a climbing fall.

I'm 35 (they went in at 23)

Watching this with interest.

My ankle has a fair bit of stainless steel in it and in the last couple of years it's been getting more and more "uncomfortable".

A friend who's an orthapedic consultant advised against having them removed unless they were inhibiting movement because of the possible risk of a bone infection.

35, think I got them when I was 27? Doesn't seem that long!

Main memory of the whole thing was looking at the tool rack in the theatre. You're not using a draper torque wrench on me! Cancel the op!

The plates/screws have come out of my arm.

And new ones put in.

And then taken out.

And new ones put in.

I really should stop f****** breaking it in the same places!

Woudln't let me keep them, a biohazard apparently. Which is wierd as surely they're cleaner than the outside of my body.

Crell - I fell 8metres so happy to be here. I accept I have pain in the ankle joint, but I had lots of pain which was around the area of the plate, especially near the Achilles. I am taking a calculated gamble that it will have gone after this. I could not put up with it anymore so I hope it has gone.
No mention of bone infection just wound infection. Can't do out about it now its too late! 😆

Worldclassaccident - makes my injury look like a broken nail! How is it now?

And I thought it was only threads about the snip that made me cringe....

Stop it Sidney you just made me cringe! 😀

Doh! Double post. Pain killers kicking in!

Plates and screws put in my tib & fib just above the ankle 35 years ago. Tib ones taken out after 9 months after much debate between experts (won't remove until infection goes v infection won't go unless removed). Fib still there, no problems with them.

I had a length of wire removed that was holding my elbow on after 12 years.

They wouldn't let me keep it either.

I felt so much better afterwards. I'd been struggling with odd pains and numbness for a couple of years.

[url= http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3296/2490652944_eae0bca403_z.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3296/2490652944_eae0bca403_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/matthewjb/2490652944/ ]Scars[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/matthewjb/ ]Matthewjb[/url], on Flickr

Messy line is where then went in last time and this time. Other line is where they fixed the nerve.

Always disappointed I never asked for copies of the x-ray of my face - have 3 plates round the eye. Told they'd be in permanently. TBH, I'd forgotten I had them until I read this thread....

wwaswas...

Hip impingment? Osteochondroplasty?

That hip looks awfully like mine did! 😉 I got the pins out a few months back.

How was your recovery?

I've got a plate in my wrist from about 4 years ago. They were fairly certain that it would start to hurt and reject after about 2 or 3 years. It's still in and doesn't give me any bother, I keep meaning to ask my GP about it but it's not worth a visit so I need to wait until I've got something else wrong with me.
Wish I had photos.

P8ddy -I'm not sure what they are, sorry 🙁

It was a femoral neck fracture that Harpenden at the local jump track after I tried to learn to jump. Turned out I had osteopenia (early brittle bones).

I was 35 at the time and pins were taken out after 3 years.

I'd I'd been over 40 they'd have done a hip replacement.

It's a lot better without the pins. I get cramp in that leg of I over do things but otherwise it's fine, no loss of mobility or strength.

Injury September 2012. Pins removed June 2013. Blue badge for the car January 2014. Could be better but could be a lot worse.

I am glad I had the phone handy to take the pictures while I waited for the ambulance.the two with the sock on are taken about a second apart and you can see how much the tendons have pulled the foot up my shin.

😯 Jeebus, I didn't even know they took things like that out!

[url= http://t.co/JHCD20ktnr ]They're not bloody doing that with me...[/url] 😯

Really tidy job on my tib, through not a lot of flesh/flab I can hardly feel what looks on x-ray like a 20cm meccano strip and eight or so woodscrews. Scar area got a bit swelly and hot a couple of times in the year after the break/operation, but it's been in 12 years now and fine. Fracture clinic were of the opinion that I was more likely to get an infection having leg cut open to remove it thatn was having it left in. Aches a bit in the autum/winter if it is going to rain (and even if i have no idea it is going to rain!) but then I have had many elderly patients (I R a nurse innit) tell me similar over the years.
Also, it has never set off airport metal detectors or the 'wand' we have at work either. 😕 Does this mean a slim enough knife blade made from the same metal tucked in your sock won't either?

Worldclassaccident - it really makes me feel lucky that after an 8m fall I escaped with what I did. Did you come off the ladder in the pics?

Weight baring starts today 36hrs after the operation. Here's a PIC I found from 11 years ago.
[URL= http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh284/soops1973/DSC00024.jp g" target="_blank">http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh284/soops1973/DSC00024.jp g"/> [/IMG][/URL]

Mine was a shark attack whilst I was saving small children...

....or I fell about six feet off the ladder as it slipped backwards. Unfortunately my leg went between the rungs so my ankle snapped and then the ladder dragged my leg and the rest of me backwards just leaving the foot on the concrete step. Fortunately the skin didn't tear so it was all kept inside the body

More pics here http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/wca-ankle-picture-update-chicks-dig-scars

And the original thread started by MrsWCA. http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/wca-in-hospital

Still in, don't fancy them taking it out. Jangles a bit of I catch it on a square edge (like our effing bathroom sink)

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Bloody hell wca! I am quite happy that I landed as I did. Remenissing a bit due to opening old wounds and all that due to being bored!!

Surgeon says only 3 weeks of work if I weight bare. Stitches out in 2 weeks. Pic is from 11 years ago but he has opened up the same scar to get them out.

Wca - just read your thread and basically did you destroy your talus amongst other things?
I broke mine into 4 pieces but they did not pin it for some reason. I am now thinking 11 years on I was luckier than I realised at the time.

Talas was fubared.

Only took three weeks of work though. I managed to do an entire customer engagement from my sick bed.

Collarbone, August 2011. It pinches a bit where the scar tissue rubs against the edge of the plate. Often think about having it taken out...

[img][url= https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2849/13328434954_0009dedbcc.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2849/13328434954_0009dedbcc.jp g"/> [/img][/url] [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/shermer75/13328434954/ ]photo 3[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/shermer75/ ]shermer75[/url], on Flickr[/img]

wwaswas...

Ahhh... Ok totally different to me then (although the pins look to be located exactly the same).. We bot appeared to have ended up with an adverse reaction to the pins though....

Pity - I was curious as to full recovery times. Mine is still a bit up and down, but I got a lot of stuff done at once. 😀

My hip is similar to wwaswas's used to be but with a big plate extending down the femur held in place with another half a dozen screws..

It's been there 20 odd years now and the bone will have grown to envelop much of the metalwork.. I don't get much gyp from it but slackness with physio immediately following the injury has left me with a dodgy gait which causes all sorts of problems.. The knee on that side is ****ed now too as a result of a more recent injury

Iv posted on here before about a car hitting me head on causing multiple fractures etc etc last April, but the worst thing for me was the 40mm leg length difference caused by the steel plate failing and causing the hip to go Varus on my right hip/femur. On March 6th I had the plate removed and a rod put inside my femur also the hip rebroken and aligned, they used liquid bone and the bone from the centre of the femur to speed up recovery. I've been off work and the bike since April. I'll be off for at least another 6 months but to have my legs back to the same length is worth it. Some pics here, https://www.dropbox.com/sc/97o8alt4jfir7dk/5P-Yhau63y
I did have a large wedge in my shoe until this op.

I must say after seeing what others have had done my poxy 7 pins and a plate in the heel seems small fry!!

Found another xray of the pins.
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Did the same to my heel nearly 4 years ago now. Came off the bike at kirroughtree - 3 weeks before my wedding !!

Can bad a bit achy but no urge to take them out though.

I broke my left femar 7 years ago got a knail full length of my femar 22mm think inside the bone screwed at the hip end. Was screwed at the knee end but had them out after a year. Thay wanted to take it out some years ago but I said no chance. Now have carbon insoles in my shoes to correct the length and the oflinement of my hip and knee my legs about 14 mm shorter the my right. I didnt ride for 5 yyears due to the paine and musle weakness still lost about 40% musle in left leg . I also broke my foot in two places and my tib and fib in three different accident over 5 years of racing moto cross

Willy - mine went beyond achy. Even though it has only been 3 days since the op and the stitches are healing I can feel the plate and 5 of the pins have gone through the pain. Its a strange feeling!

I was taken out by a van in February, luckily only my knee cap was destroyed and is now being held together by wire.

I was told that it'd be coming out at some point other wise I'll never be comfortable kneeling down.

All these other injuries are making mine look a bit tame, but then I seem to go for quantity rather than quality of breaks! I worked out the other day that I've been in a cast on average once every 2 years since I was 16!!!!

Time to start looking after myself now I think! Anyone up for cottonwoolwrappedworld.com?

Reading this stuff makes me feel mega lucky. 5 years ago I fell 9m onto my head from off stanage. Save being knocked unconscious for quite a while and a big head lac I got off scot free. Got a ride in a helicopter too, grim experience!

I anesthatise for a lot of these metalwork removals. Seems as has been said they only remove if causing pain or impinging movement. Often best left as osteomyelitis is not fun!

Osteomyelitis?!?!? Don't tease, explain!!! 🙂

Osteomyelitis is basically infection in the bone. Takes along time to treat with antibiotics, can need amputation. Not cool.

Well 4 days on and I am walking on the ball of my unpinned foot unsupported. Very happy with progress and I have stopped the extra pain relief as I do not need it. I can feel the stitches stretching but no bleeding. 8)

Had my extra hardware removed this Wednesday and it occurred to me to check if there are similar stories here. 7 screws and 2 nails removed, pain from surgery is still there but at least there is no longer feeling of bone being drilled.

Just had my stitches out today after 2 weeks.
I can definately feel that the pins and more so the plate are not in anymore. Its a strange,nice feeling and I can't wait for it to settle down and get the full benefit.

Pics to follow of today

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I'd get some moisturiser on that foot!

Glad it's all going well. I've never regretted having my bolts taken out.

No moisturiser until the scar has settled down.
Hopefully will be able to hill walk again which is something I have mossed .

Home at the moment with 3 cannulated screws in neck of femur (broken hip).Had the opp 7 weeks ago on Monday and all is going well.Been doing some light spinning classes this week and hopefully!will be crutch free next week and back to work.
I need to get back to work being self employed, also being stuck indoors is driving me insane.

So its been just over a week since the stitches came out and I am walking OK and back at work.

The surgeon told me that the plate had been catching/rubbing in 2 places. I can't believe the difference in not having all that metal work in. 10 bloody years I have been putting up with this nagging pain and now its gone.

I know that I will still have some pain in the joint but I can put up with that.

Just looking forward to getting out on the bike again and hopefully being able to do some hill walking in the lakes again after 11 years of not being able to!

Cheers!

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I am back out riding!

I can't believe that i put up with the pain for so long. I still have ankle pain but that is nothing compared with what it was.

For those of you with pins and plates and a nagging pain, i can say it was worth it for me having them out.

Cheers All!

Good news 🙂

Hope the foot looks a little less, errm, messy now!

Blimey, what a fascinating thread.
Can't contribute, but did crack a metacarpus once 😉

It is still swollen. It is weak but i am on with the exercises from the physio.

Happy Days.

Were you awake when they removed the metalwork? I still have a plate in my ankle after high siding a mini motorbike 15 years ago, it hurts from time to time and is a bugger when I get new boots as the top of them rubs the plate.

My ankle was also pinned, but the pin removed after 3 months or something like that. It was removed under local anaesthetic which was very odd - all I saw was the surgeon disappearing behind a sheet with a large screwdriver. Shortly afterwards I realised the creaking noise and vibration in my knee were the result of him unscrewing the pin 🙂