I wondered if anyone would mind explaining about broken legs:

– what getting pinned and plated felt like just after the op and the bone healing time after

– if the plates and pins are left in, if there is much awareness of them being there in the years to come?

Thanks

missus can feel hers especially when it’s cold. It’s in the ankle and just under the skin so it irritates on certain shoes and boots. Looked at removal but it can be a fairly traumatic process as the bone can grow over the top and needs removed.

OP are you contemplating your legs if the reviews are favourable? 😯

Some years ago I had a double break and dislocation of my left ankle that was ‘fixed’ with 8 screws and a plate.
It was fine after the op once the plaster was off, some weeks later one of the screws was taken out so my ankle could move again, that screw held the left and right parts of the joint together to aid healing etc.
However, 3 and a bit years later I started having issues with it being very sensative to touch in two places and aching, two of the screws had started backing out and pushing against the skin, so I had the remaining 7 screws and the plate removed.
That was 15 years ago, I have had a few twinges and aches in it, it is a bit more sensative in places due to the skin being a bit thinner from the wounds, but apart from that it’s OK.
I hope this helps you?

ATB.

I had pins in my hip.

they were a right pain – the heads stuck out about 1cm or so and every time I knocked my thigh they dug into the muscles and hurt like hell. I also had an achey leg after long car journeys etc. I had them taken out and they also cut out all the old scar tissue in the muscle at the same time. It’s all been fine since.

My mates got his ankle and lower leg pinned and plated after a pretty big motorbike smash.

As above he feels it a lot more in the cold, hardtails are a non starter, crashes bring up some seriously interesting bruising as you can see all the screw heads down his leg!

I snapped my ankle and had to have 2 screws in the ankle ball and a plate and 8 screws in my leg holding it all together. Physio is the key to living a normal life again. They lived in there for 3 years until same as defender they started backing out and on a road ride over bad roads you could feel the screws vibrating. A very odd feeling. Made the decision to get the lot out and its the best thing I did. A load more Physio later and it doesn’t stop me doing anything. Ski, ride, run etc. Does ache in the winter though.

Same as Mikes missus, I’ve still got a plate in my ankle. It was almost 15 years ago so I can’t remember much about pain/discomfort then but I do still get some pain from it. Mostly when the weather is changing/damp it tends to really throb, also some boots can rub the plate and bruise the flesh over it which gets pretty painful.

All in all though it feels a lot better than immediately before it was plated!

Thanks for the info/stories folks – its really helpful info.

Wife had a long pin down the inside of her left shin and several screws holding it into the bone. It got infected and she had to have the whole lot out, leaving her with a re-broken tibia and some awesome looking scars.

Apparently the infection had slowed the rate of healing and it was not as healed as it should have been when the pin came out.

Willard, so sorry re your wife. How did they repair it after the re-break? I hope she is ok now.

Compound tib and fib pinned and plated 9 years ago + loads of soft tissue reconstruction.

Not pretty, aches a bit in winter, but all works fine.

Segmented femur here, every now and again it twinges, but rarely. Also screws in hand but never noticed them.

I must be very lucky, break in upper femur a little over 30 years since which was pinned and been absolutely fine once I got the leg active again and physioed.

Never had the pins out and I guess they’ll stay there now.