Post ankle surgery skate advice

[haasport 0]

Went down a 3 hour rabbit hole this morning reading as many posts as possible on skates and there is a lot of good info.  Figured I'd request some updated advice for my 13 yearly son who sustained a very bad ankle injury in May requiring surgery.  (during the first night of tryouts!)

He now has two screws installed with screw heads on the inside of his right ankle.  He is still several weeks away from getting the all clear to skate again but his physical therapy is going really well and his surgeon is very happy with his progress.

I'm doing prep work at this point.

My first thought was True skates thinking they could accommodate the screw heads to ensure there is no rubbing and discomfort from direct pressure....possibly a "donut" type pad.  The True skates could also provide some additional shot protection (he is a defenseman).  This is also a fairly reasonable price point for custom skates.

He wears a size 8 shoe and is considered low volume.  Has skated Bauer, CCM and Graf in the past but this ankle injury has really hit the reset button for us so I'm really open to anything.

I appreciate any thoughts and advice that could help him.

 

[stick9 907]

So I have screws and plates in my ankle as well. Last screw of the bunch is almost directly on the point on my ankle bone. When I started skating again there was some discomfort. I ended up having the ankle punched out a bit. Worked like a charm, no more pain or discomfort. I've had that done in every skate since except for my 1X. There was never a need so I didn't bother.

I wouldn't plan for the worse just yet. See how it feels when he starts skating again. Maybe a punch is all he'll need. I tried the foam rings. They never stayed in place and they were hard to put on.

Has the surgeon mentioned wether or not the hardware will be permanent or not? I still have mine but I know others who've had it removed once they were fully healed. They offered to remove mine but prefaced it with "well if it's not bothering you why risk going back in to remove it". 

 

[colins 246]

 

Sorry to hear - those types of injuries can be scary and frustrating.

What do you mean by screw heads? Was it the usual ORIF type surgery where they attached a plate with screws to stabilize a broken bone? Are the screw heads you are talking about under the skin holding the plate in place?

My son broke his ankle and had this done on the outside of his right foot last season, after about 6-8 weeks he gradually started back and after 3 months was skating normally again in the same skates (CCM Jetspeed) he had before the break. His ankle with the surgery was still noticeably swollen and larger than the other ankle 6-9 months later, but it didn't cause a problem in his skates, at most we would have just re-baked them. 

colins

 

[haasport 0]

13 minutes ago, stick9 said:

So I have screws and plates in my ankle as well. Last screw of the bunch is almost directly on the point on my ankle bone. When I started skating again there was some discomfort. I ended up having the ankle punched out a bit. Worked like a charm, no more pain or discomfort. I've had that done in every skate since except for my 1X. There was never a need so I didn't bother.

I wouldn't plan for the worse just yet. See how it feels when he starts skating again. Maybe a punch is all he'll need. I tried the foam rings. They never stayed in place and they were hard to put on.

Has the surgeon mentioned wether or not the hardware will be permanent or not? I still have mine but I know others who've had it removed once they were fully healed. They offered to remove mine but prefaced it with "well if it's not bothering you why risk going back in to remove it". 

 

Thanks for the reply!

Surgeon says he will keep them forever unless issues.  

The skates he had at the time of injury were already in need of replacement (size and wear) and his good fit can't even get into it to check pressure on the screws.  Starting from scratch so its good to know punching out may be an option for off the shelf skates.

[haasport 0]

13 minutes ago, colins said:

 

Sorry to hear - those types of injuries can be scary and frustrating.

What do you mean by screw heads? Was it the usual ORIF type surgery where they attached a plate with screws to stabilize a broken bone? Are the screw heads you are talking about under the skin holding the plate in place?

My son broke his ankle and had this done on the outside of his right foot last season, after about 6-8 weeks he gradually started back and after 3 months was skating normally again in the same skates (CCM Jetspeed) he had before the break. His ankle with the surgery was still noticeably swollen and larger than the other ankle 6-9 months later, but it didn't cause a problem in his skates, at most we would have just re-baked them. 

colins

 

Thanks for replying!  Good to see others with successful recovery.  Happy to hear your son is back at it!

There were three breaks so they used the screws to basically skewer all three bones in line just narrowly missing the growth plate.  The x-rays are very interesting to see...very precise tolerances.

The screw heads are under the skin...no plate.  Heads are counter suck into the bone with very little penetration above the bone.  You can feel them...their not protruding all that much but the area is tender obviously which will get better over time.

[stick9 907]

Sounds like your son is better off than I was. My screws are pan heads and sit proud of the plate. They aren't so bad now.

If he ends up needing new skates. The upper end models in the Ribcor line have the most comfortable ankle packs I have ever tried. I know that option is available on custom Jetspeeds and Tacks. Hopefully it doesn't get to that but worth mentioning.

[IPv6Freely 2100]

I thank the baby jesus every day that I opted to not have surgery. The recovery was a bit longer but not having hardware in there ended up being really critical it seems. 

[marka 526]

Howdy,

My wife has a plated ankle with screws.  She wears regular skates (Vapors) without any particular issues.  I would not immediately jump to full customs out of the expectation that they'd be needed to accommodate the screws/plate.

Mark

[colins 246]

1 hour ago, IPv6Freely said:

I thank the baby jesus every day that I opted to not have surgery. The recovery was a bit longer but not having hardware in there ended up being really critical it seems. 

 

I don't think anyone should suggest that plates & screws (ORIF) is a bad way to approach repairing a fractured ankle. Getting the bones set and re-aligned for proper healing so you can get back a full range of motion post injury would be the critical part.

It's awesome it worked out for you without needing it - but if the doctor's taking the x-rays say orif is recommended, I wouldn't advise anyone to try to avoid it. The plates & screws can be removed after the healing is completed - but in the majority of cases there's no reason to do so.

I have a plate & screws in my collarbone I thought I would want removed, but that was 5 years ago and I never even think about it now.

I also wanted to add - if you think about what happens and the forces involved to actually break the bone(s) in your ankle, there's probably close to zero chance that happens without accompanying damage to the ligaments in that area. Those take a long time to heal, the ligaments and tissue in that area won't be back to normal long after the bones fuse themselves back together.

Aggressive physiotherapy sessions with a seasoned pro who had worked on many athletes in the past was critical to my son getting back to normal on his skates. I can't really say enough about that and how much it helped - otherwise the range of motion will be a long time returning. And still, all being said, his broken ankle still looks slightly larger than his other one, about 9 months later.

 

colins

 

 

[IPv6Freely 2100]

Correct. If it’s recommended then you should be doing it. I was given the option. 

[davekind 1]

I had ankle surgery about a year ago. As soon as I was cleared to skate there was minor discomfort with the screws rubbing the liners of my skates. It does get better over time,  as I hardly notice the screws anymore. There are skates out there now, with very comfortable ankle padding, such as CCM 70k which I’m currently skating in. I was in Bauer supreme 190 and the 70k has much better padding in the ankles. If you’re foot profile fits, it’s a good place to start. But I’ve heard a lot of different skate brands and models offer more comfortable padding in the ankles now. Just let your son know his ankles will return to a “more” normal state after time. I barely notice the plate and screws anymore.