A hip injury

At the end of July 2015 I had a hip fracture, which has been fixed by surgery, during which 3 screws have been inserted to keep the bone in place. The fracture seems to have healed fine, and my orthopedist strongly suggests to have the screws removed. However I do not find his reasons totally convincing. Mainly he has two points

- in case another injury should occur, the screws may make an operation more complicated. Hopefully this will not happen, but of course it is a factor.

- A more ideological point of having the hip back as it was.

A physio had suggested that removing the screws could help with some limitation I feel in internal rotation on the injured side, but the orthopedist thinks this is unlikely.

I have asked a bit around and while it seems indeed that in relatively young people is generally advised to remove the screws, there is not an absolutely compelling reason to do so. The disadvantages I can see are

- Another surgery and relative recovery. It should not be particularly long or complicated, but still it will probably be a few weeks to give the wound the time to heal.

- The cut to remove the screws is probably going to be larger than the one to put them in - so more scar tissue.

Opinions/experiences/advice would be welcome.

(Please note: I am not trying to replace medical advice with advice taken on  a forum. While my orthopedist is strongly in favour of removing the screws, from other opinions I have got, including those of other doctors, removing them or not is up to a choice, in the sense that there are not huge disadvantages by not removing them).

Hi Guido,

I agree with your orthopedist.  If the screws are no longer needed, time to address the issue and move on.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Thank you Coach, your opinion bears much weight for me.

I guess not wanting to remove them because of the recovery period afterwards is similar to avoiding a stop now which makes it possible to move forward later. On a different note, I recently finished "The art of learning" you recommended somewhere on the forum and found it very inspiring.

So, after a few months of waiting list I had two days ago the surgery to remove the three screws from the left hip. I was dismissed from the hospital the day after the surgery, and for now I would say that things are proceeding well.

Of course I will follow the prescriptions of the doctors, but these have been very generic: two weeks with crutches avoiding full weight bearing, than gradually restart various activities/training avoiding heavy impact things. The holes left by the screws should be completely filled in 8 weeks at which point I should be cleared to do everything. I have an appointment to remove the stitches in 20 days.

Does anyone have any recommendation about exercises/stretches/etc to speed up the recovery/reduce muscle loss? I can feel that my glutei, especially on the right side, are getting a bit stiff as I am using them much more. Thanks in advance.

Glad you got them removed and everything went well. Take it easy for a while! Don't worry about muscle loss etc too much, that'll bounce back rather quick once you've recovered and get back to training. Make sure to do your physio as your therapists advise! 
While you might need to give your hips a little break, focus on exercises that don't bother your hip and healing process. All the best for you!

Thanks Bas!