Wondering if anyone has gone back for hardware removal after several years?

Wondering if anyone has gone back for hardware removal after several years? I had my original surgery 3 years ago (Lapidus) and have three titanium screws. I have always been able to sort of “feel” where one of the top screws is, but it never bothered me except if I wear shoes like sandals with a strap that directly hits the incision spot for an extended period of time. I had no complications with the original surgery (except the long, long, recovery- 9 weeks nwb). Lately, the screw has really started to bother me and is painful to the point where I think it’s affecting my gait some days. I’m wondering what the recovery for screw removal like this would be? I’m in a very different living situation now than I was three years ago (have a flight of 19 steep stairs to get into my apartment, no family support system nearby anymore) so I’m worried about the recovery of it all. My other foot also probably needs surgery at some point but I don’t think I can swing another 8+ week recovery right now. Hoping the screw removal would be much easier? See less

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Community comment#1

I had my screws removed 2 years after. You definitely don't need 8 weeks for the screw removal. Depending on your job it would be a few days to 2 weeks. If you're on your feet it would be closer to 2 weeks according to what the surgeon told me. I ended up with 4 weeks off because my incision was slow healing because I didn't listen to the directions and did not take it easy and some of my stitches popped and I got a bit of an infection. It was pretty painless so it was hard to just sit around and do nothing. I ended up not even taking any pain meds and was walking pretty normal right after surgery.

Community comment#2

Hi everyone! I had lapidus surgery on 11/17, non weight bearing for 8 weeks. Just got my stitches out and cast off yesterday, and they gave me a boot to wear. I’m allowed to take it off for short periods of time, but must sleep with it. They warned me it would be painful at first because my foot can’t fully bend to 90-degrees yet. But it’s so much more painful than I thought, almost unbearable to keep it on for more than 1 hr. My feet ache on the bottom as they would if I was wearing a really uncomfortable shoe without arch support, or a super tight ice skate or ski boot. Anyone else have a similar experience? Any suggestions? Thanks! See less

Community comment#3

Collins O'Shea I'm on week 3, 9 more to go for nwb. My boot which I got after one week was very uncomfortable until I padded it with abdominal surgical padding (even rolled up socks will work) that my neighbor gave me! This is my 7th surgery on right foot, I've learned a few things over the years! I have to wear my boot 24/7.

Community comment#4

I had Lapidus on the 10th and went straight into the air boot. I was told non weight bearing for two weeks and to wear the boot anytime my foot was going to be near the ground. After two weeks, I could barely touch my foot to the ground, but a week later I’m able to walk on it in the boot. The boot is very uncomfortable but mostly where it hits my incision. When the boot is off, I’d be doing a lot of foot wiggling to get it to 90 degrees and more flexible. I’d also ice it in case it’s swelling.