My son's surgery to remove the 10 pieces of hardware in his ankle was a little over two months ago. He wanted it out for a long time, even after the doctor told him it could make him worse, because the hardware caused a grinding pain when he moved his foot, particularly side to side. His foot also made a lot of popping and cracking noises with every movement. Now with the hardware out, the grinding side to side pain is GONE! as well as the cracking and popping. Once he gets past the setback caused by the actual surgery, I'm confident he'll have a much fuller recovery! Also we installed a home therapy pool to make it easier for him to rehab, which is pretty fun!