I have a question for anyone here. Did anyone have reoccurring hives related to their hardware which went away with hardware removal? I'll be seeing my surgeon next week for a 6 month followup, and this is a new issue for me. Every time the antihistamines wear off, the hives come back. My dermatologist didn't think it was related, but I'm not so sure. He said rejection of the hardware would involve loosening of the screws and plates. I see that as a more advanced issue, and perhaps this is the early beginning stages. According to my surgeon, about 20% of patients have hardware removed and he said if this still bothered me next summer, I could have the plates removed.