It has been 5 and a half months after my pilon fracture surgery

I am still feeling very stiff and sore in my left ankle, primarily in the front of the joint and behind the malleolus. The Dr. and PT say this is expected because the surgery cut through a lot of the fascia in this area. They say the pain should lessen when these wounded tissues loosen up (presumably through PT)

It gets me down because (pilon fractures being so rare) I have few other people to compare my progress to, and I worry that the pain will not get better. I also worry that the doom of arthritis in the ankle will set in soon, or perhaps is setting in.

My wife tells me to give it a year before I begin to worry. I try to not judge.

For now I can not do a calf stretch because the front of the ankle, and the area under and behind the medial malleolus hurt pretty bad.

I find videos of how this injury is caused and how pilon fractures are repaired helps keep me grounded.