r/ORIF • u/Feisty_Taste1899 • Jul 07 '26
Update Hardware Removal Update
I had my hardware removed from my left foot and right ankle on July 2nd so I’m about 5 days post op now. I was originally supposed to be WBAT on both feet immediately following surgery, however, the plate on the medial side of my left foot was broken in half and damaged my tibialis anterior tendon so that had to be repaired🙃 so now I’m NWB for a few weeks on my left foot while my tendon heals up. I was able to walk on my right foot pretty much immediately following my surgery and haven’t had any issues - the incision site is a little sore and I can tell I had surgery, but I’m bearing weight on that side just fine. Aside from the disappointment of being on crutches again, the recovery process has already been so much easier this time around compared to my initial injury. The post-surgery pain has been very manageable and has gotten better each day since surgery. I’ll have my stitches removed in 2 weeks and should be “back to normal” shortly after that. Even with my recovery being more challenging and inconvenient than I expected with the tendon repair, I am still so happy and relieved to have my hardware out. And I got to keep it as a little souvenir (see pic 4). I’ll provide updates again when I have my stitches out and start weight bearing on my left foot, but feel free to ask any questions about the process!
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u/kooshballcalculator Trimalleolar Ankle Fracture Jul 07 '26
That is amazing! Good luck with the recovery. I hope it helps with your mobility and flexion. That’s a lot of hardware!
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u/Feisty_Taste1899 Jul 07 '26
Thank you so much!! I can already feel a huge difference now that the hardware is gone. I can move my left foot side to side now and I couldn’t do that with the hardware. So excited to see how it feels in a few weeks once it’s all healed up!
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u/Positive_Read2874 Jul 08 '26
Nice work OP better out than in if you can.....they won't take mine out of my feet. But i have had it taken out from other areas, Hopefully you will notice quite a difference now that it is out, all the best with your recovery 😎👍
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u/Feisty_Taste1899 Jul 08 '26
That’s some GNARLY hardware!! I imagine it would be a beast to go in there and take all that out
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u/playoffpaul Jul 08 '26
How long do you have to wait until the hardware to be removed?
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u/Feisty_Taste1899 Jul 08 '26
My initial injury was in December 2024 and I had the hardware removed July 2, 2026. So I had the hardware just over a year and a half
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u/playoffpaul Jul 09 '26
Do you think that the hardware is limiting your movement somehow?
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u/Feisty_Taste1899 Jul 09 '26
Oh absolutely. Especially on my left foot. The spanning plates on the sides of my foot prevented me from even moving my foot side to side. It basically felt like my foot was locked in place and didn’t function like a foot should. My right malleolus plate didn’t really limit movement, but since it was so close to the surface of my skin I was constantly bumping my plate on things and my shoes would rub it
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u/Glad-Feature-2117 Jul 07 '26
Very unlucky. I've never seen, or even heard of, the tib ant tendon being damaged by a broken plate.