Plates on ankle, do you feel them when skiing?

Last weekend I broke my fibula at the ankle level when walking in Paradise parking lot with ski boots on. I have an unstable lateral malleolar fracture and the doctor offers operative and non-operative treatment, each with pros and cons. Doctor recommends surgery because I'm young (25) and it will definitely prevent more problems down the road (instabilities in the ankle, arthritis, etc...)

If anyone here has plates in the fibula, are they comfortable for skiing? Did you have them taking out?  I guess they would be quite tight against ski boots, right? Please comment on your experience.

Thanks a lot!

Ricardo

I've been skiing with a plate and 8 screws in my left fib since 2007.

Most of the time I don't feel it (except on skier compacted wet and rough snow like today) and occasionally skinning with the left leg uphill. The first few months was a little rough - the area was super tender and I taped a strip of foam over the plate and recooked my Intuitions to create extra space there . . . still haven't taken the screws/plate out as I haven't found a "convenient" time to stop skiing.

Very hard to know the exact particulars of your injury and risk/benefit analysis. I'm sure there are many great resources locally; a couple brilliant ones are the Sports Medicine Dept. at UW in Seattle (consider non-surgeon consultation from sports medicine/athlete specialists like John O'Kane, MD) and Ted Molaski, Ph.D. at Performance Physical Therapy in Bellingham. Good luck.

Thanks to share your comments gregL. Are you still looking forward to get them out?

peteyboy, I precisely did not ask for a straight opinion on my coin-toss decision on the forum, will most likely get me more confused. I have an appointment with Dr O'Kane on Monday

Thanks!

I fractured my tib-fib in '94 ice climbing. ( A stupid activity when you consider the pleasures of skiing in winter ). I have plates and screws on both outer bones. Some boots I have tried will cause a problem with the lower cuff rubbing on the larger knob surrounding the plate. Otherwise no issues. Good luck!!

Plates are good because you heal much faster. AND the plates can be taken out later if they are bugging you. the recovery time from plate removal is only a few weeks.

if you do the physical therapy after the surgery (get instruction in home exercises for 3 to 6 months after your cast is off), you will recover much faster and it prevents reinjury.

parking lot walking is a low impact injury, talk to your doctor about osteoporosis risks and vitamin D...