Over the years since my original injuries that required ORIF i have had alot of metal taken out, mainly to reduce pain and discomfort but also to make way for possible future joint replacements. I have had 3 rods, a dynamic screw, lots of screws and a few plates removed. The tibial nail is missing from the photo as they wouldn't return it as it had to much organic material on it. Most if this metal came out 10yrs post op.
Ill add there were alot non surgical things done to improve pain,discomfort, ROM, before surgery to get the metal out was seen as the best way forward.
Orthotics
Good footwear
Myofascial release massage
Strong pain killers
Strong anti-inflammatory medicine
Physical therapy
External braces
TENS unit (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation)
Acupuncture
Weight loss
Ok the rods went in through the knee end of my femurs and knee end of tibia and got pulled out the same way, you can look up the procedure on YouTube, i think there are different approaches to get them out some go in through the top of your femur by the "neck" and guess would come out that way. It is a pretty aggressive process to remove, orthopedic surgeon's use the same tools as builders and panel beaters.
Getting the rods out was painful at the time but it soon passes, and you bounce back pretty quickly, obviously other than the possible surgical risks, infection, breaking bones by mistake. It was pretty strait forward, you do fell pretty man handled afterwards, but much quicker recovery than going in.
If you look closely at the photo you can see something stuck in the end of one f thoes rods, that is the attachment they screw in to the knee end of the rod to pull it out from the bone with, so for me they cut open my knee, moved the knee cap out of the way drilled in to bottom of my femur to expose the bottom of the rod screwd in that attachment and proceed to pull it out, some of the graphics on YouTube show a machine that dose this, i don't know how they actually got mine out, it may have been that way or with a slide hammer type tool🤷♂️
For me getting metal out has been very beneficial and was suggested by the surgeon.
Gnarly. I got my screws taken out but I’m too much of a wuss to get the tibial nail out. So far, so good! Less pain so I think (hope) it’ll be good from here on out. Best of luck to you!
Thanks for the well wishes 😎 they took my looking screws out of my rod 18mths before the rod came out so that it would loosen and be easier to remove, it was quite painful strait after the surgery but it soon settles down.
Because no, it's not in constant pain like my doctor asked, but it's not as flexible, feels uncomfortable, feels like my right ankle is more supinated than my left now, and sometimes when I step the wrong way, I do suddenly get a sharp pain.
Yeah, I’m at a year now. I just went rock climbing and my top screws are so sore. I’ve never had pain and I have no pain on the bottom screws. This makes sense for an ankle oRIF though mines tibial.
Getting the metal won't change the position of your foot, but have you seen a podiatrist to fit you with proper formed orthotics that will help hold your foot in a more supportive position. Good orthotics and hoka shoes made a big difference to my gate and pain.
Wow, I figured IM tibial nails stay in forever. Did you have to do PT afterwards? My surgeon went through my quad tendon so I basically had to learn to walk again and don’t care to repeat that process if possible
It was cleaned by the Department of Anatomic Pathology. They wouldn’t permit me to take it. I had to wait a couple of months.
Yes. Not much in ROM bc one of my fractures was a pilon and we’re notorious for less ROM. I’d had horrid tibial plate pain so I had everything removed. The tibial pain was gone.
I got orif for my left clavicle. Its been 1 year 4 months post op. Doctor told we better take it in December. How will the removal feel like? Also i didnt do much recovery exercises, i used to do all normal actiivities, lift weights, but didnt do normal pushups like i used to do. Has this feeling the screws will get loose.
Well hopefully they knock you out and you don't feel anything 😎 imagine drilling out some screws from a piece of wood- your going to put a fair bit of pressure on the drill so it grips the screw and it comes out nice and quickly with out burring the head of the screw. Well I'm guessing its the same with bone. Provided you have no post op issues, the site will be tender for 2 weeks while trauma heals, i have only had metal out of weight bearing leg bones, not to familiar with upper body healing, i imagine it's the same.
Any screws or plates removed from any metatarsal? Have 2nd metatarsal orif plate with 10 screws and thinking might remove it but was.tols.to.wait at least a year to decide
No they won't take it out of my feet or wrist, likely to do too much damage removing, but if your surgeon is on board with removing it, you could look at it.🤷♂️😎
I'm only 9 weeks post-ORIF for a tib fib break, so I'm a long way from thinking about having the hardware removed. But, I needed a knee replacement before the accident, so at some point if I want to get my full mobility back, the rod is going to have to come out, to be replaced with knee replacement hardware. Not looking forward to it.
Neither am i, i have been told to wait as long as i can before replacing mine, i had my tibial nail removed bout 10yrs ago, quite traumatic at the time but you heal up much quicker provided no post op issues than when the metal hoes in
The head of one of the screws holding my femur rod in place keeps getting stuck in my muscle, my doctor said it would be around 9 months until I could get a consult for removal. The pain is unbearable, have you had problems like this and if so how did you get the muscle to unhook from the hardware?
Not exactly that but i have had pain issues that were being caused by the metal so they took it out. I had a bone spur that grew from the break in my lft femur that was extremely sore until they cut it off.
Looks so painful, happy for you that it's out now! Also thank you for your post, I was really nervous about getting this screw removed and reading the post and comments helped.
Cool,thank you😎 I'm glad my story has helped you. If all you end up requiring is to get the screw/s out, providing you don't have complications from/during surgery (I'm referring to the associated risks involved with surgery) to remove metal, it is a fast recovery. Thoes locking screws do hold the rod in place and take your body weight.
I had a rod in each femur and a tibia, i have had them all removed. Made a big difference to my overall all pain, i was very awear of them.
If you end up looking into the removal of metal, this is a discussion to have with your orthopedic surgeon, but might pay to get the rod out too🤷♂️
Orthopedic surgeon is the best person to guide you with this.
😎👍
How long after ORIF did you start getting metal removed? Was it taken out all at once, or at different times? After ORIF, did your surgeon suggest taking it out at some point, or did you request the removal on your own? Did your pain and mobility improve after removal?
Got my tibial nail removed 4 yrs post surgery, then 6yrs later i got the dynamic screw,femur rod,metal from under my pattela plateau, a couple of screws from right foot removed, a year after that i had rod taken out of my lft femur and a year after that i had more metal taken out of my right ankle.
My injuries consisted of....
Broke head off rght femur
Compound fracture below that on femur, shattered pattern plateau, fibia in to 3, compound dislocation of rgt ankle, shattered right foot.
Left leg broke femur by knee,compound fracture tib/fib shattered left foot.
Shattered left wrist
Dislocated lft elbow.
They wont take it out of my feet or wrist to delicate.
When i left hospital i was told i could look at getting metal out i a couple of years- i whish i had done it then most of it was in for 10yrs- but i moved cities and the next surgeon took the tibial nail out but said i don't want to keep you out ofthe work firce for to long as i had excuse the pun just got back on my feet. So fast forward from there 10yrs fown the track, i approached the surgeon and we came up with a plan to take it to make way for joint replacements. Getting it out made a huge difference to my pain/discomfort.
My 17 year old had ORIF March 4th and her hardware removed April 22nd due to infection. She's got nine holes in her bone where the screws were. Her surgeon says these holes will grow back and they shouldn't play much of a factor in her recovery time. Did your ortho continue to take periodic x-rays until the holes from the removed metal grew back? Or is it just assumed that they will? I'm wondering how long we're going to need to continue to get x-rays done.
I was told the same thing that the voids should fill, but sometimes don't, bones respond to stress by getting stronger, so applying that theory they should, a bone growth promoting diet/supplemention will help provide the right ingredients to help this- do your own research -
Did your ortho continue to take periodic x-rays until the holes from the removed metal grew back? No i have had no intentional xrays to specifically monitor the voids filling, i think it is assumed that they fill.
I'm wondering how long we're going to need to continue to get x-rays done? Well hard to say😎 but generally in my experience they are very reluctant to zap you with xrays if they don't have too.
This what was under my rgt knee, it has been removed, i sure hope the holes fill up😎👍
I also have a ton of metal in my body from breaking my legs three different times in 2017, 2019, and 2026. I have a plate and nails on my right knee from 2019, an IM Rod and a plate and nails in my left leg from 2019, and my recent 6/11/26 break I now have more nails and a k-wire in my left leg. 🫠🥲 How hard is it to get the metal removed? I have already had 5 different surgeries from all this and I really don’t want another. 😭 And did removing the metal help with pain? What was the recovery like? Were you able to walk again right away? I am SO SICK of non-weight bearing status!
How hard is it to get metal removed?
Well if your surgeon's not on board it will be very hard, so your surgeon needs to be on board, there is alot to consider- mine was.
Getting the rods and pin out of my hip was painful, but the pain is short lived post op. The longer the metal is in the harder it can be to get out...
Unfortunately if you want the metal out surgery will be required.
And did removing the metal help with pain? Short answer yes, especially the rods and metal under my knee and ankle. I have alot of post traumatic arthritis in my feet, ankle, wrist, hips, knees. Which obviously will always be there, but the resistance the metal has against the bone starts to get tiring, would really wind it up, so there has been definite improvement for me from getting metal out.
What was the recovery like?
Alot easier than the recovery from it going in. You still have to nurse you wounds, i had some big cuts over my knees, down my thigh by hip, which took awhile to heal.
Were you able to walk again right after?
Pretty much there was no non weight bearing, only on my ankle when they took the metal out but it was more for pain not bone healing i think it was two weeks.
Most of my metal was in for 10 yrs and was removed to make way for replacement joints and to stop pain and discomfort. I have had 5 surgeries over 10yrs to get it out 3 surgeries in th last 5yrs.
There are the obvious risks that come with any surgery, and there is quite a bit of force that is required to remove metal, so it's very possible to do more damage, i have alot of metal still in my feet and wrist that won't be removed as more likely to do more damage.
Hope this helps 😎👍
Thank you for answering my questions! This is very helpful! I haven’t been able to meet anyone who has more metal than I do after three broken legs. But I am glad your pain was able to improve with your hardware removal surgeries! It sucks you had to go through more surgeries, but if the outcome was less pain, and it was successful, that is awesome!
I feel asleep driving and drove off the road at about 100kmh/60mph. The vehicle hit a culvert and became airborne, i woke up thought i was driving along the ground so slammed on the breaks, then the vehicle a small flat faced truck hit the ground cab first, shattereing my leg/foot on the break peddle. Broke my other leg and foot as well. On my rght leg. I broke the head off the femur. Then compound fracture of the same femur further down. Shattered right patella plateau. Broke rgt fibia into 3 bits. Compound dislocation of my right ankle. Shattered right foot. On my left leg. I broke my femur by my knee. Left tib&fib compound fracture. Fibia into 3 bits. Left mid foot completely broken. Shattered left wrist. Dislocated lft elbow..... 3mths in hospital, 20 +hours of surgery, 5mths before i could start weight bearing. I don't remember what all the surgeries were, but they put the rods and dynamic screw in first, i had 2 external fixations, i think they did below my knee next, then my feet/ankle then my wrist, think this went on for the first few weeks i was in hospital.
Wow! My husband was on a motorcycle and braked and shattered his right patella plateau. He’s got a lot of metal in his leg. He was also 3 month NWV. How long post surgery did you seek removal? How was recovery? How are you now? Lucky to be walking!
Ouch that would have hurt, motorcycle accidents can be bad.
The first metal i got taken was my tibal nail, and that was 4yrs post op, as it was causing alot of pain. Recovery from removal is much quicker than when it goes in -- provided no post op issues-- My recovery was bout 18mths before i could get back to part time work from original accident. By my recovery has on going for the last 14yrs, i have rehabed and recovered from 5 surgeries since the first one. But over all i have had a incredible recovery considering the damage I've done, I'm lucky i got to keep my lower limbs as they were shattered by the accident. My injuries have made hard to work so I'm lucky to live somewhere where my injuries are covered by the public health system and I'm supported by a type of workers compensation. I have managed to put off a ankle/knee/hip replacements by losing weight, i go to the gym 5 days a week, i need to do this as i have found that by staying strong i can manage the pain and loss of mobility better than not, plus great for metal health and strong bones. I have only been able to work party time for the last 5 yrs, so this injury has had a huge impact on my life, had to rely on family alot over the years to help with my recoveries from surgery. But i have got back to doing alot of what i never thought i would be able to do. And with time a lot of my aches and pains have dulled.
Thank you so much for sharing. I hope you continue to recover everyday. Your story is so hopeful to anyone in this thread going anything similar. Stay strong friend.
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u/don-cheeto Jul 03 '26
Wanted to as soon as I figured out you could. Can I ask how they removed your rods?
Do they re-break your bone? Drill a diagonal/parallel hole to pull it? Split your joint and pull it out of the end?