Shattered multiple bones in crash 6 weeks ago — when does the 'locked up' feeling start to ease?

I broke my pelvis and two ribs in a wreck two years ago. Six weeks felt like the hardest stretch — you're past the 'shock' phase but nowhere near functional. For me the real thaw started somewhere between week ten and week fourteen. Not a dramatic flip of a switch, more like one morning I reached for something and went 'wait, that didn't scream.' Hang in there, it IS moving even when it doesn't feel like it.

Not to derail your recovery question, but make sure you are documenting EVERYTHING. Every PT session, every day you can't do something you used to do, every time you have to ask someone for help. If there's a claim or lawsuit coming (sounds like the other driver was at fault?), those day-to-day notes about loss of function matter enormously. Insurance companies will try to argue you healed faster than you did. Don't let them.

From what I've seen working cases like this: the medical records from your PT are going to be some of the most important documents in any claim. Those notes capture functional limitations in real time. Make sure your PT knows the full picture of what you're struggling with — if you downplay it in the session, it gets downplayed in the notes. Also, 'maximum medical improvement' (MMI) is a legal and insurance threshold that matters a lot; you generally don't want to settle anything before you reach it, which for injuries this significant could be a year or more out. Not legal advice, just stuff I've seen matter in files.

Jumping on what the person above said — I spent years on the claims side and I can tell you that adjusters are trained to low-ball settlements for injuries that 'aren't visible' on an X-ray anymore, even if you still have massive functional limitations. Range of motion deficits are exactly the kind of thing that gets minimized. Get a lawyer involved before you sign anything. And yeah, keep a journal.

Talk to your PT directly about this. Tell them exactly what you told us — that you feel zero progress and you don't know if you should push harder or back off. That's literally what they're there for. They can adjust your home program based on where your tissue actually is right now. Don't guess at it.

Oh my gosh, I can't even imagine going through all of that at 19. Please be patient with yourself — you literally had metal put inside your body six weeks ago. You're doing so much better than you're giving yourself credit for just by showing up to PT.

I know this is rough, but the fact that you're frustrated about wanting to progress is honestly a good sign. A lot of people in serious crashes lose motivation entirely. Your brain is still fighting for you — hold onto that.

Was the pickup driver cited at the scene? Do you have a claim open? I ask because the answers change the advice a lot. And are you doing inpatient PT or outpatient? Twice a week outpatient for a pelvic fracture plus hardware in multiple sites seems light to me — have you asked about more intensive programming?

Speaking from years of seeing post-surgical recovery at the bedside — six weeks is still very early tissue healing time, especially with hardware involved. Your body is pouring resources into knitting bone right now, which actually competes with the flexibility work. The 'concrete' feeling you're describing is super common with immobilized joints; synovial fluid gets sluggish, scar tissue starts forming. The PT exercises matter A LOT even when they feel pointless, because you're fighting adhesions before they set. Don't push to pain, but do push to discomfort — there's a difference. Keep showing up to those sessions even on bad days.