All About Orthopedics

With great advances in the medicine, efforts have been put by numerous doctors to promote the benefits of a healthy lifestyle and physical exercise. People have started making efforts to live a healthier lifestyle and inculcate healthier eating habits to ensure lasting health. Inappropriate eating habits coupled with inadequate physical exercise lead to series of health and bone problems. This increases a person’s vulnerability to bone injuries and muscles issues. Most of these problems require orthopedic care. Baby boomers are especially vulnerable to these conditions, including degenerative joint diseases, arthritis, osteoarthritis, and other bone related problems.

One of the most commonly sought after medical practitioners, people now consult orthopedics way before any of the problems actually start to show up, in a bid to follow a better quality of life.

Orthopedics is the branch of surgery and medicine that deals with musculoskeletal system. Both surgical and non-surgical methods are used to treat these musculoskeletal issues, including trauma, degenerative diseases, sports injuries, tumors, infections and even congenital disorders.

The various super specialists in the field of Orthopedics are:

• Shoulder and elbow surgery
• Hand surgery
• Pediatric orthopedics
• Total joint reconstructions
• Spine surgery
• Foot and ankle surgery
• Orthopedic oncology
• Surgical sports medicines
• Musculoskeletal oncology
• Orthopedic trauma

The super-specialties mentioned overlap with other fields of medicine also, and are hence not exclusively related to orthopedics. E.g. hand surgery is a specialty practiced by plastic surgeons also, and neurosurgeons also perform spine surgeries. Sports medicine is also practiced by many family physicians. While these overlap and the distinctions may not be very clear, a lot of times, surgeries include synchronized working relationships between practitioners from different fields of medicine. E.g. a spine surgery will include both a neurosurgeon and an orthopedic surgeon.

Most orthopedics chooses between the non-surgical and surgical methods of treatment, depending on the severity of the problem and other factors, including the age of the patient, the health, lifestyle etc. Non-surgical practitioners include chiropractors, physiotherapists, podiatrists, kinesiologists, and occupational therapists. These practitioners use non-surgical methods, including medication and exercise, and other non-surgical treatments to treat the orthopedic issues their patients face.

Orthopedic surgeons use surgical methods to treat their patients. A lot musculoskeletal problems need to be surgical treated considering the age of the patient, severity of the problem and other issues. These include problems of the:

• Hand, feet and spine
• Prosthetics
• Physical problems
• Replacement of joints, including hips and knees

The most common of these surgeries is the joint replacement surgeries. The most common areas where this is performed are the hips, shoulders and knees. Most often pain in the joints is reported to non-surgical doctors first. Attempts can be made to treat the joint with changes in the lifestyle and activity levels. Medication is prescribed as per the case. In case of severe cases, where the non-surgical treatments are not an option to relieve the pain, surgical treatment is preferred. A lasting pain the joints should be reported to orthopedic doctors so necessary action can be taken at the earliest.

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