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Elite Veteran
Posts: 794
  
| !0 years ago I broke my tib-fib. I had a rod placed in the Tibia for stabilization so I could get back to ridding quicker. Fast forward to today. For the last three years my leg has hurt so bad that some days I can hardly walk on it. I have seen 3 different Orthopedic Physicians over the years with no relief. I have also had several bone scans and have found a bone tumor on the tibia but it is noncancerous and has not grown any over the years. My question is has anyone ever had this issue and what have you done about I?. All of the physicians have said the same thing. Cowgirl up and deal with it. I am taking about 3 BC powders each day to control the pain on occasion I have Tramadol to take but don't use it very often because it will make me sleepy for about 24 hours or more. Like I got 30 of them on January 15 2017 and still have 6 of them left so pain has to be at crying level before I will even take a 1/2 of one. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 885
| Do you know what metals are in the rod that's in your leg ? My husband broke his fib / tib in a work related accident. He was a firefighter. Long story short bad ortho first surgery. led to more surgeries, 8 of them to be exact. 2 years ago he had knee replacement. Since k.r. he has been in constant 24/7 pain. Like you, he hates taking any pain pills. His Dr who did the k.r. is wonderful & did different tests to see why he was still in pain. Finally Dr said, lets do a blood test to see if you are allergic to any medals. BINGO ! Bob is highly allergic to nickel, one medal in his replacement & he has a low allergy to titanium. His choices were, live with it or find a new medal & do the replacement again. He chose to do the replacement again because medal allergies can cause lupus down the road & other problems. My poor husband has been through the ringer & this 2nd replacement will be # 9. My suggestion to you is to have the medal allergy test done. It's a blood test & well worth having done. Feel free to pm me if you want to talk. My prayers are with you. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 794
| O MY Goodness I have been saying this to everyone I see and they all keep telling me it can't be. I have an appointment in the a.m. and I am going to ask my .D. to do that test. Thanks soooooooo much. I am also going to show them this post so they know I am not crazy. Thanks for all the information. I am an x-ray tech so have some knowledge of ortho but have been at a total lost with this one. Hope you husband pulls through with no pain. will keep him in my prayers. Keep me posted on his recovery please. |
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Veteran
Posts: 277
| When I had a titanium marker put in (without my knowledge) a non cancerous tumor I went through terrible pain. My body was trying to fight off the foreign object. Where the marker was still hurts from time to time, but my body finally quit putting up the fight to get rid of it. So yes, I agree with a metal allergy/sensitivity! Good luck, I hope you find some relief! |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 885
| cavlier - 2018-08-19 3:02 PM
O MY Goodness I have been saying this to everyone I see and they all keep telling me it can't be. I have an appointment in the a.m. and I am going to ask my .D. to do that test. Thanks soooooooo much. I am also going to show them this post so they know I am not crazy. Thanks for all the information. I am an x-ray tech so have some knowledge of ortho but have been at a total lost with this one. Hope you husband pulls through with no pain. will keep him in my prayers. Keep me posted on his recovery please.
A man who works at the same place my husband works had k.r. also. He had the pain also for quite a while. He to had an allergic reaction the medal. I think people are going to be hearing a lot more about medal allergies to where the dr's are going to start testing patients before they do any surgery regarding metal. We were never mad at the Dr. as he is fantastic at what he does & is also a professor for replacements in Tulsa, Okla. We kinda thought that Bob's pain was there because of 8 surgeries on his knee. He had no cartilage & was bone on bone when they did the replacement. Dr. tested for infection, etc, but tests came out normal. Then Dr. said, mayo says it doesn't happen, but lets test for medal allergies. Not bashing Mayo as they are great, but just because they are so large doesn't mean they know everything. Actually there is only 3 % of people at the time mayo did their studies that have this. I believe the % will increase in time. I think there are many more Bob's out there than Dr's know of. Please let me know how your test comes out.
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
 
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | No advice from me but just wanted to send a hug  |
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 My Heart Be Happy
Posts: 9159
Location: Arkansas | My right femur was broken in my wreck--compound fracture in 4 places. They put a rod in it; 4 years later it got to where I could barely get out of bed to navigate my college campus. Momma took me to our family doctor who sent us to a doctor in LA; no one could seem to figure out what was wrong. Finally we located the doctor that had done all my surgeries. After some xrays he told us the problem--the rod was trying to work out the top of the bone. Scheduled surgery and removed it; I've never had another problem (28 years). So definitely sending prayers for a quick diagnosis that fixes you  |
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 Expert
Posts: 1343
Location: Oklahoma | My husband has a horrible allergy to nickel. It's so bad that he can't even wear shirts with snaps on them. He had a knee replacement 8 years ago by a wonderful doctor, also in Tulsa, OK. They repeatedly asked him before the surgery if he had any metal allergies, which he told them he did. They made sure to not use any implants with nickel in them and he has had great success with his knee replacement since then. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 885
| shaunar - 2018-08-20 7:03 AM
My husband has a horrible allergy to nickel. It's so bad that he can't even wear shirts with snaps on them. He had a knee replacement 8 years ago by a wonderful doctor, also in Tulsa, OK. They repeatedly asked him before the surgery if he had any metal allergies, which he told them he did. They made sure to not use any implants with nickel in them and he has had great success with his knee replacement since then.
Who did your husbands knee ? Your story is giving me hope that Bob will not be in pain after he gets the new replacement. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 794
| My mom had knee replacement somewhere around 20 years ago and has never had any issues. She was 60 at the time was back ridding a bike in about two weeks. I would recommend it to anyone and I would go on and have both done at the same time. Time down is about three weeks and then you will be so much better. Having one knee done will cause the other to give out from all the weight being placed on the good knee. |
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Expert
Posts: 1343
Location: Oklahoma | okhorselover - 2018-08-20 8:34 AM shaunar - 2018-08-20 7:03 AM My husband has a horrible allergy to nickel. It's so bad that he can't even wear shirts with snaps on them. He had a knee replacement 8 years ago by a wonderful doctor, also in Tulsa, OK. They repeatedly asked him before the surgery if he had any metal allergies, which he told them he did. They made sure to not use any implants with nickel in them and he has had great success with his knee replacement since then. Who did your husbands knee ? Your story is giving me hope that Bob will not be in pain after he gets the new replacement.
Dr. Chris (Christopher) Brown. He was affiliated with St. Francis, not sure if he is still there as my husband hasn't needed to see him in years, yea! Good luck with your hubby's knee. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 885
| Bob sent me this website to share with you guys.
https://www.orthopedicanalysis.com/metal-sensitivity
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 928
Location: Northern CA | Can the rod be removed? My husband had a rod the entire length of his femur after a bad compound fracture. The removed the pins about 6 months after, and the rod a little over a year after. He is much more comfortable with the rod out. |
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 BHW Resident Surgeon
Posts: 25351
Location: Bastrop, Texas | OK so pay attention here. I know there was a fairly recent article in a journal that I read not long ago. It was a study that came out of Europe, I believe. Here’s the takeaway that might apply to you.
Many people elected to have hardware like yours removed because of chronic pain. About 75% of them had excellent pain relief after their rods, pins, screws, etc, were removed. I think the post op infection rate seemed a bit high (5-10%), but I’m not sure.
I’m not going to make recommendations in your case, but I am saying that it sounds like a reasonable option to consider.
It sounds like you’ve reached your limit in dealing with this. Narcotics, including an occasional Tramadol, doesn’t seem like a real good option.
I can try and find the article, if you are interested. Maybe you can bring it to your orthopod.....”armed for bear”, so to speak. Maybe he’ll take you more seriously. |
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 A Barrel Of Monkeys
Posts: 12972
Location: Texas | I recently had a rod placed the length of my femur. My ortho said it should be removed in about 2 years. Seems reasonable to me, though I don't look forward to another procedure. |
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