What Is an Orthopedic Specialist?

You never think you need an orthopedic specialist until you are out playing basketball with your buddies and are trying to catch a pass from a teammate. Suddenly bam! You hit the court hard as you and an opposing teammate collide. At first you laugh it off after everything seems to be okay. Until, that is, your knee starts hurting like crazy. No matter how much aspirin you take, it does not even keep the pain down to a dull roar. Your knee then swells up. You try icing it, but that too does not provide relief. You finally knuckled down and go to your doctor.

Also known as orthopedic surgeons, they focus on injuries inflicted on specific areas of the human skeleton, body joints, and body ligaments. In the case of our hypothetical knee injury, you would need to go see an orthopedist, who specializes in healing injuries to the knee. In fact, sports-related injuries are the bread and butter of their trade. These physicians are employed at trauma clinics, emergency rooms, and other places where patients with trauma-related injuries are frequent. Others have their own practices.

Some of the types of injuries and other bodily issues an orthopedic specialist deals with are sprained muscles, strained muscles, broken bones, dislocated bones, broken hip joints, spinal injuries, and nerve damage. Some of the treatments they can administer are hip joint replacements, spinal fusion, bone grafts, traction, and fasciotomy. The least pleasant but occasionally needed treatment they can administer is the amputation of damaged limbs. They can also administer prosthetics or connective devices to keep broken bones and damaged tissue or joints together.

Due to the nature of their work, a surgeon includes an anesthesiologist on their surgical team. They can offer you three anesthesia options: local, regional, or general. Surgery is not recommended with your entire bodily senses alert! That would defeat the purpose of the treatment.

Can you find one without waiting to have a doctor's recommendation? Sure! For starters, type into a search engine the keywords orthopedic specialist with your city or zip code right after it. The results you will get are numerous, especially if you live in a major metropolitan area.

Is your hip giving you chronic pain? Is your knee feeling gimpy after that fall on the basketball court? Is some other joint or ligament being troublesome? Don't try to explain the pain away to yourself. Instead, ask your doctor if you need to see an orthopedic specialist or contact one directly. They can be of help.