ORIF screws removal, but still discomfort

36/m here ORIF just had surgery 2 a few days ago. 4 plates and 32 screws. I was going to PT then hardware screws came loose. I plan on being in PT for years. I walk sort of normal, walking on the beach is quite difficult, running is out of the question and after 8 hra on feet there swolen and sore, sometimes unuseable, tons of pain. Oh had a plate and 8 screws put in my other foot 2 years ago. I reccomend listen to you doc, goto PT as often as possible, be glad theres no talk of amputation or fusion. Could be worse. Best regards.

I am 23 weeks out from ORIF, 48 yrs old. I was released from PT last week. I still swell every day, and also get stiff if I am sitting for periods at a time. I have slight to searing pain depending on activity. My range of motion is good, but I still cannot run and walk with a limp. My doctor said upwards of a year before I feel normal again, and he does not want to remove hardware because he said it leaves the bone compromised where all the screws are. I go to the gym 3 days a weeks, but always have to ice and elevate daily. I wear a compression sock to mitigate swelling but my ankle just stays "boggy". I pray that as the months click by the pain will disappear. I get very impatient with recovery as I am typically very active. But from all of the posts its a long and trying recovery process.

Hope you find some relief. Keep posting as it is helpful to read how others are coping/healing. Best of luck.

I'm 8 months post ORIF and still have my hardware. My ankle still gets stiff when I don't use it for a period of time, but I've found that in the last month this has gotten better. I don't know what causes the stiffness, my theory is that it's related to the swelling.

The best thing I can tell you is to keep practicing. Walk as much as you can, keep doing the exercises they had you do in PT. I've returned to running and and currently am trying to rebuild the stamina and strength I lost. If you aren't where you want to be, go back to PT or get a new doctor.

I'm a 34/m 2 years post-ORIF surgery with a plate and 7 screws still inside. It was a trimalleolar fracture and dislocation with a severing of the tendon that joins the tib and fib so I had a big screw clamping those together which was removed after a couple of months. I was doing PT for about 8 months after surgery. I'm now at about 80% range of motion, walk with a limp for the first 20ft in the morning but fine after that and can run but with a gimpy lopsided gait if I try and go fast. Im not usually the most active person but have done > 10 miles of walking at times over the past year. If I hike on rough terrain anything over ~3 miles the ankle throbs a bit and can swell but only if I really push it to keep up with real hikers. Saying that, my good ankle hurts after a hard hike anyway. The mental paranoia when hiking is the worst though! The concentration is tiring making sure you don't step badly when walking and mess the ankle up again. My confidence in walking uneven terrain is still not 100% but is a lot better than it was in the months after weight bearing where I didn't have the instinctive foot placement and balance on the bad ankle. I'm mainly a cyclist anyway and the ankle doesn't affect that at all.

The stiffness when sitting and swelling passed within the 8 months of PT. I forget about the ankle a lot. I was hoping to get the screws and plate removed too as I can feel some of the metalwork which is weird and I reckon will rub when donning ski boots this coming season.

My physio said that the loss of range of motion can be partly due to internal scar tissue. He would make me do all the exercises and stretches then brutally massage around the ankle to "work out" the scar tissue. I went from 20% to 70% in the 8 months and the rest just happened over time walking about and home stretching. Id guess that only 2 weeks after surgery you're still healing internally from all the cutting, shifting and stitching.

I remember thinking exactly the same as you and was struggling to come to terms with this affecting my life so much. With time all of the things you mention will be a distant memory. I met a guy at PT who had the ankle fused, thats no joke!

Do the bone screw holes close in over time or are you left with a presumably weaker bone structure with holes in?

49yr male, 1yr and 2mts from orig surgery. Broken ankle 3 places, dislocated, two plates 8 screws. I’m back to my normal activities, running 3 Miles 4 days a week and lifting weights. I’m not having any problems whatsoever. I been where all you guys are at and it’s going to get better with time trust me . The stiffness depends on you , the more you strengthen your ankle with toes rises and different excercises the easier the stiffness get, you have to walk it out. Everyone recovery is not the same I get it but you have to push yourself or else it will not get better. The swelling will go away as well the more you push yourself in recovery.