An orthopedic surgeon refers to a surgeon who is specialized in the diagnosis, pre-operative, operative and post-operative musculoskeletal injuries and disease. The following are the signs you may need an orthopedic surgeon:
Chronic Knee Pain
If you experience chronic knee pain that lasts for several months or weeks, you may need to consult an orthopedic surgeon for knee replacement surgery. If you are unsure whether you’re suffering from chronic pain, or need some information on how to treat it, make sure to visit websites like Rolling Paper to get some more information. However, chronic knee pain does not always mean that surgery is the only treatment option. The surgeon will first examine you to determine the cause of the problem and if it can be treated through other ways, such as the administration of drugs or through chiropractic care. You may also find that there is a way to naturally relieve yourself of the pain (CFAH has more information on this) and that this makes it manageable until the problem heals itself. As you know, surgery has its own risk and should only be considered as the last option when all else has failed or is unlikely to treat the condition. In fact, knee replacement surgery for treatment of knee pain will only be resorted to as the very last option because it takes longer for the patient to recover and the attendant physiotherapy may sometimes be extremely painful. If knee pain, knee arthritis, or lack of mobility has led to the deterioration of quality of life, it is high time to seek the advice of an orthopedic surgeon for consideration of knee replacement surgery.
Knee inflammation can also be sign of bone dysplasias, avascular necrosis, crystal deposition diseases, hemophilias, Ligament damage, or rheumatoid arthritis. Most of these conditions can be treated by partial or full knee replacement surgery. The orthopedic surgeon will first consider partial knee replacement because it is less invasive and thus allows faster recovery. However, for severe or advanced conditions, full knee replacement may be the only treatment option.
Hip Pains
If you are experiencing chronic hip pain then you may need an orthopedic surgeon to examine your condition and decide if surgery could provide relief to the pains and other symptoms such as stiffness, and swelling. The common causes of hip pains are childhood hip diseases, avascular necrosis, post-traumatic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and osteoarthritis. There are various types of hip arthritis but the most common of all is osteoarthritis. This condition causes wearing out of cartilage leading to exposure of the bare bone. This will cause inflammation of the hip and may be accompanied by numbness and other complications such as decreased mobility, tingling and severe hip pain. Hip pains can also be caused by fractures due to sports or motor vehicle accidents and may make it difficult or impossible to perform simple activities such as walking or standing.
Knee or hip pains could also be a sign of arthritis which has become very common these days. An orthopedic surgeon can help treat these conditions by performing partial or full knee or hip replacement surgery. The orthopedic surgeon will first examine your condition and decide if surgery is necessary. Although hip or knee replacement surgery is considered one of the safest and highly successful surgeries, it still has risks. The surgery will only be performed if medication and lifestyle changes do not help reduce the pain, swelling and other symptoms.