Tibial Plateau Fracture-Need Help!

[physiobob]

I have read online that immobilization of knee for more than 3 weeks can cause permanent damage ie. stiffness in knee that cannot be corrected by physiotherapy.

Basically Rubbish.

I tibial plateau fracture is one of the slowest in my experience to recover. And yes perhaps due to prolonged immobilisation just like the old plaster casts for a dislocated patella (which some DR's still do). A plain x-ray of the tibial plateau would be nice to have to see how the alignment of the fracture is. Also consider the get the fracture the joint as a whole suffered a huge trauma. So the fracture might have been the obvious sign but other tissues would have been damaged.

The DVT is a bummer but you'll get over that as you're young and the tissue should cope well with that. Basically you need really good hands on (and hands off) rehab. You could have a general anaesthetic just to see if the knee bends full when you're out to it. That would show the restriction is at the 'brain' level and not locally at the joint. i.e. not a physical/mechanical block.

Overall relax in the understanding you are way early into the rehab process and so you're probably par for the course right now

[m_reeson]

thanks so much for the reply!
its good to hear that its just a slow rehab, and that i shouldnt be worried! I am doing my home exercises diligently and i believe my physiotherapist is excellent.
its an interesting point about the stiffness being mental, maybe ill try doing my exercises with my eyes closed in case i am limiting myself mentally. could that help? i have a fairly high pain tolerance, and push myself quite hard when doing exercises, but perhaps that doesnt exclude the possibility that im holding back on the extension. speaking of pain, is it common to be experiencing consistent pain ranging from 5-7 at worst, at this stage? having difficulty sleeping still? and based on your experience and the limited information you have about my case, would you say i should expect a full recovery of knee functioning?
thanks again, i really appreciate the advise!
m