Q: I am a 37 years old man, had a patella fracture a month back. It was operated by rod and wire and placed in gypsum plaster for 25 days. Am I on right treatment? What precautions do I need to take while walking or sitting? How early soon can I return to my normal sex life? My fracture is single, displaced and transverse.

A:Fracture patella normally heals in 5-6 week’s time. Some surgeons give a plaster after surgery while others do not. Either way in about 4-6 weeks time range of movement exercises should have begun. The biggest problem with fracture patella is a fact that knee joint becomes stiff and you are not able to bend your knee to allow you to sit on an Indian toilet seat or sit cross-legged. If you have plaster in place you could be walking with some support as well as sitting. The type of fracture that you have as per your description it is a simple fracture that could not cause any problem other than the possibility of full bending of the knee being difficult. Getting back to normal sex life is entirely up to you.

The precautions to be taken after the plaster is off - no massage should be done, and keep working on range of movement exercises to avoid stiffness of the knee.