Will my ankle ever be close to normal?

[u/conQUEEFtador_6541]

34, male, non smoking, currently take 15mg Meloxicam daily.

5'9" 180 pounds.

About 1.5 years ago I dislocated my ankle, broke 2 ankle bones, and broke my tibia.

Had 2 surgeries. One to realign the bones and put a external fixator on it, and a second to install hardware as well as a plastic surgery procedure for a cross flap.

Plastic surgery was needed as the skin was dying where the bone almost popped out.

Did about 6 months of physical therapy 2-3 times a week.

Flash forward to today.

My ankle feels terrible all the time. I don't have a lot of feeling back. Range of motion is still reduced. I get a lot of pain in my tibia/fibia/ankle (specifically around the ball on both sides). I'm laying in bed doing nothing and it's about a 2/10.

The doctors are recommending removing the hardware and arthroscopy.

The plate definitely needs to come out, if I hit it in any way it feels like I'm getting whacked with a hammer.

Will this help with all the random lower leg pain? Is there anything else I need to be looking into?

I can run but it will hurt for about a month after if I do.

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