Replying to Fractured patella, recovery, rehab and splint questions.

Hi guys, I recently (11 days ago, 18th Jan) broke my patella in two places while skiing.

The tendons were not damaged and the bone is being held together by them so there was no need for surgery to put hardware in. The consultant put me in a splint, told me not to articulate my knee and I have weekly X-rays followed by an appointment with the consultant to monitor the knitting and ensure the bone fragments stay in place. When I explained this injury would impact my competition season the consultant was very helpful and told me with weekly checkups he would get me into rehab ASAP.

This is where the questions start: what kind of timescale and I looking at before I am allowed to start flexing my knee again, I'm really aiming to minimise muscular atrophy as much as possible.

What kind of recovery times have people had with reasonably straightforward, no surgery required, patella fractures?

The splint I am in is rather uncomfortable (a generic Chinese one supplied by the NHS), I have to do it up tight to stop it moving and they causes discomfort and thus I've spent a lot of time lying in bed with the brace off. If I loosen it to sleep, it moves both up and down and around the leg often then resting on my knee cap. Are there any recemondations for better splints to immobilise the knee joint?

Thanks guys, any advice is greatly appreciated!

Will