Some data/info on post surgery hardware, removal or not.

In response to a recent post in the subreddit, I wanted to gather some data on people’s post surgery experiences in so far as hardware being removed or not. Fairly interesting. Sadly nothing TOO conclusive, however. Wwas gonna do another poll on here but you can’t actually do em on here! So guess I’m glad I tried Vital first. And it’s fairly alarming how many responses were had in 24 hours lol. Oh mountain biking…

Vital MTB poll/thread: https://www.vitalmtb.com/forums/hub/do-pros-remove-their-hardware-post-surgery-also-did-you

Results (as of posting); 70% retained hardware, 30% removed hardware.

Findings; as a blanket statement either situation is fine. If there is no noticeable discomfort, there is no real reason to remove. (Keep in mind it can take 3-9 months to really settle in and regain comfort.) Most people who choose either or stand by their decision. Insignificant amount of ‘regret’ from both groups.

Obviously the more severe the break the more touch and go it becomes. Really extensive hardware may be required to fix it. But that much hardware may be concerning to future breakage in terms of proximity to other bones at each end (a concept that comes up a lot is how the collarbone is prone to breakage to not pass on shock to other bones that will be much worse to break).

Conclusion; as always trust your doctor and trust your personal instincts/sensations. that said, either situation is usually fine 🙂 keep ridin

by GundoSkimmer