Frequently when a patient fractures a bone in his or her body, orthopedic surgeons fix the bone with hardware, such as plates and screws or rods. Many patients worry about that hardware and inquire about having it removed. In this Ask Dr. Geier video, I explain the process of returning to sports and exercise after you break a bone and when removing the hardware could be necessary.

http://challenge.drdavidgeier.com/ds/...
I want to help you! Please click the link above and take a few seconds to share the biggest challenge or struggle you’re facing with your injury!

https://drdavidgeier.com/askdrgeier...
Click the link above for more information about broken bones and other resources on sports and exercise injuries.

Get The Serious Injury Checklist FREE!
How can you know if your injury should get better in a few days or if it's more serious? This checklist can help you plan your next step to recover quickly and safely.
http://www.sportsmedicinesimplified.com

Please note: I don't respond to questions and requests for specific medical advice left in the comments to my videos. I receive too many to keep up (several hundred per week), and legally I can't offer specific medical advice to people who aren't my patients (see below). If you want to ask a question about a specific injury you have, leave it in the comments below, and I might answer it in an upcoming Ask Dr. Geier video. If you need more detailed information on your injury, go to my Resources page: https://www.drdavidgeier.com/resources/

The content of this YouTube Channel,    / drdavidgeier   (“Channel”) is for INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. The Channel may offer health, fitness, nutritional and other such information, but such information is intended for educational and informational purposes only. This content should not be used to selfdiagnose or selftreat any health, medical, or physical condition. The content does not and is not intended to convey medical advice and does not constitute the practice of medicine. YOU SHOULD NOT RELY ON THIS INFORMATION AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR, NOR DOES IT REPLACE, PROFESSIONAL MEDICAL ADVICE, DIAGNOSIS, OR TREATMENT. You should consult with your healthcare professional before doing anything contained on this Channel. You agree that Dr. Geier is not responsible for any actions or inaction on your part based on the information that is presented on the Channel. Dr. David Geier Enterprises, LLC makes no representations about the accuracy or suitability of the content. USE OF THE CONTENT IS AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Sam asks:
Dr. Geier, I fractured my radius bone. I went through a surgery and got a steel plate and rod. Will I be able to do my normal activities as I was doing before after hardware removal? Or is it dangerous to lift weighted objects?

The radius is one of the two long bones in the forearm, along with the ulna. When you break the radius, either in the middle of your forearm or at the wrist, you often need surgery to fix it. In surgery, we use a plate and screws to hold the bone in the proper position until it heals.

RETURN TO SPORTS AND EXERCISE AFTER YOU BREAK A BONE
Assuming the fracture heals normally after surgery, we allow you to do whatever physical activity you want to do. We obtain xrays at regular intervals to ensure the bone heals and progress your allowed activities based on that healing.

THE NEED FOR REMOVING THE PLATE AND SCREWS
Most patients do not need to have the hardware taken out. Unless the bone doesn’t heal or it gets infected, they can leave the plate and screws alone and go back to what they want to do. If for some reason a person wants it out, such as feeling pain from the screws with motion of that body part, then it can be done in a second surgery. Often we will hold you out of activity for a few weeks while bone fills in the holes where the screws were.

In this video, I discuss return to activities after you break a bone and how hardware removal could affect the timeline.