Hi - I have a small plate and 4 screws in my left foot where some bone was removed to straigten my toe after bunion surgery. I am curious what long-term effects that will have on me. Will my foot get colder faster due to the metal? I do a lot of motorcycle riding and am hoping it will be healed well enough to shift by Spring. I had the surgery on Dec 12th.

Will the metal set off airport screening machines? Will it be more likely that I will get arthritis? I had never broken or bone or had a single stitch before this!

Any information would be great. Thanks - Lisa

Hi Wildflower,
I had a metal plate 14 pins and 2 long screws placed in my ankle in Dec of 2000. I did notice my leg did get colder than my other one as well as faster than before. It was enough to notice, but I could tolerate it. I really don't know if it increases your risk of getting arthritis, although I did end up with post traumatic arthritis after my incident. Anytime you have hardware or foreign objects in your body you run the risk of infection. I would think that once you are more than a couple months post op without incident of infection you are probably in the clear. Some people have problems later like I did where the pin or screw head actually protruded slightly and rubbed up against boots or a few pairs of my shoes. You should ask your dr if they can be removed later if they start to bother you.
I hope this helps. Good luck with your bike! I hope you can enjoy riding it soon.
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