Orthopedic care is a branch of medicine that deals with patients with conditions of the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic patients often have chronic pain, arthritis, or other musculoskeletal condition. Orthopedic disorders can occur in any age group, but children and older adults most commonly develop orthopedic problems. It’s very important to see an orthopedist when you know something is wrong with your bones or joints. Often, physicians who aren’t specialists in this area may not catch some injuries or misdiagnose them as something else that could cause other problems.
Orthopedic surgeons operate on hips, knees, feet, backs, and necks. In addition, they perform other surgeries such as pinning broken bones, removing tumors or replacing joints.
Some of the benefits of orthopedic surgery include:
- A decrease in pain and discomfort
- A decrease in inflammation
- An increase in function
- An increase in mobility/flexibility
Corrective Surgery in Orthopedics
Orthopedic surgery can correct pain and cause discomfort. One of the most common orthopedic surgeries is hip replacement, which is performed when a person has severe arthritis or suffers from an injury that prevents them from using their hip without suffering pain.
An orthopedist can also perform spinal fusion surgery if you suffer from chronic back pain caused by damaged joints in your spine. This involves removing the damaged discs between your vertebrae and fusing the bones to create one solid bone so they won’t slip or move against each other anymore.
Procedures like these will not only relieve you of your pain but will also increase your mobility/flexibility. Also, because You won’t be in as much pain, you’ll be able to do things you couldn’t previously do because of the pain.
Soft Tissue Repair
Another common orthopedic surgery is tendon repair or reconstruction, which is performed when you’ve torn a ligament in your ankle, for example. Orthopedic surgeons can also do cosmetic procedures like pinning protruding ears with a simple outpatient procedure.
Since orthopedic surgeons are very familiar with the human body and its bones and muscles, they’re able to perform corrective surgeries that involve repairing tendons, broken bones, or torn ligaments, as well as reconstructing damaged cartilage in your knees and other joints. They can even help improve the appearance of various parts of your body by performing cosmetic surgeries such as fixing ear deformities or facial bone structure issues that don’t necessarily require reconstructive work need a little tweaking to look better.
Repairing Fractures
Orthopedic surgeons can also perform surgeries that involve repairing broken bones, such as pinning broken bones in the foot or reconstructing them if they’re severely damaged. They can also repair a broken ankle, which is fairly common when people fall and break a bone on their way down.
What Is Arthroscopy?
Arthroscopy is a surgery that involves inserting an endoscope in the joint, which allows your doctor to see inside. This procedure can be done using local anesthesia or IV sedation if you’re having it done in an outpatient surgery center. In addition, your orthopedic surgeon may use arthroscopy if you have meniscal tears, ACL reconstruction, rotator cuff repair, and many other procedures.
What Is Arthroplasty?
Arthroplasty is a surgery that involves replacing some part of the joint with an artificial implant. Orthopedic surgeons and orthoptists work together to design and create 3D-printed implants custom-made for each patient’s specific needs. Some common types of arthroplasty include total hip replacement, partial knee replacement, wrist arthrodesis (wrist fusion), elbow arthroplasty, and ankle replacement.
Surgeries That Affect a Person’s Quality of Life
In addition to corrective orthopedic surgeries, orthopedists can perform procedures that improve your quality of life without correcting any deformities you may have been born with, like closing large birthmarks over an organ or performing cosmetic procedures to change the appearance of certain parts of your body.
However, orthopedic surgery isn’t just about corrective procedures. Some common surgeries that fall under ‘cosmetic orthopedics’ include night lifts to address facial drooping or aging skin and facial implants such as chin implants or cheek augmentation.
Surgeries That Affect a Person’s Appearance
Orthopedists perform cosmetic surgery procedures that help people gain more self-confidence in their appearance by performing procedures like rhinoplasty (nose job), breast reduction/expansion, liposuction, tummy tucks, and many other procedures. Some surgeons only perform cosmetic orthopedics – maybe you’ve seen an ad for a “better butt now” or something like that? Well, that’s a doctor who only uses orthopedic surgery for cosmetic purposes.
Orthopedics and Sports Medicine
Sports medicine is another field that falls under the umbrella of orthopedics. Orthopedic surgeons are qualified to treat sports injuries like ACL tears, shoulder dislocations, broken bones, and many other issues athletes may experience while playing their sport. Some common types of athletes include professional dancers, cyclists, runners, and swimmers.
Orthopedic surgeons can also use arthroscopic surgery to help optimize athletes’ performance by repairing tendons, removing bone fragments, and treating other related issues.
The average person is probably already aware of just how important orthopedic surgeons are in our society. But what many people don’t know is that the role they play goes well beyond the scope of corrective procedures. Cosmetic surgeries like rhinoplasty (nose jobs) may fall under the category of corrective or reconstructive work instead of purely cosmetic work, which means a nose job patient could be getting their procedure covered by insurance if it’s medically necessary.
