As human beings, knowing that we have someone there to help with our medical issues is typically comforting. Ben Franklin is generally quoted as saying “there is nothing certain in life but death and taxes,” and that quote cuts off a critical eventuality.
You can bet your bottom dollar that at some point in your life or another, you’re going to require medical attention. We aren’t saying that everyone will get medical attention, in some cases you just die, but throughout your life, you can definitely expect to need it one way or another.
There are different kinds of doctors in the world that help with different specialties. Of course, you have your general medicine doctors that help with a plethora of things but they aren’t specialized doctors, instead, they can refer you to specialists to help with specific things happening with your body.
Today, we’re going to be taking a look at what an orthopedic treatment center is good for. These are specialized medical centers that can help you when you’re experiencing something that a normal doctor won’t be able to effectively help you with. This is a fantastic thing!
Learning more about the kinds of care that you have available to you is also inherently important. If you don’t know what kinds of doctors are out there, you could end up being incredibly surprised if a situation arises that you need their help, and being surprised in healthcare isn’t ideal for most people.
So let’s find out what an orthopedic doctor does, how they help, and who benefits from seeing an orthopedic healthcare practitioner! Today’s article should most certainly be an interesting one so buckle up and we’ll dive headfirst into learning about this incredibly interesting topic.
Table of Contents
What Does an Orthopedic Doctor Do?
It is important to understand the roles of different doctors because they all have different specialties. For example, a cardiologist is a doctor who specializes in heart health, while a neurologist is a doctor who specializes in brain health. By understanding the specialties of different doctors, you can be sure to get the best possible care for your specific needs.
Orthopedic doctors are medical doctors who specialize in diagnosing, treating, and preventing disorders of the bones, joints, muscles, and ligaments. They use a variety of medical and surgical techniques to help their patients regain or maintain their mobility. Orthopedic doctors often work with other medical specialists, such as physiatrists, to provide comprehensive care for their patients.
The area that orthopedic doctors work with is called the musculoskeletal system. If something is not working properly in the musculoskeletal system, orthopedic doctors can help through a number of different methods, including orthopedic surgery.
You might be asking, what is orthopedic surgery? Orthopedic surgery is a type of surgery that helps to correct problems with the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons work to correct problems that are caused by injuries or by diseases that affect the musculoskeletal system.
Orthopedic surgeons can perform surgeries to repair bones, joints, muscles, tendons, and ligaments. They can also perform surgeries to correct problems with the nerves and blood vessels that are in the musculoskeletal system.
There are a wide variety of conditions that affect the musculoskeletal system that can be worked on by an orthopedic surgeon or an orthopedic doctor. Some of the conditions that orthopedic surgeons can treat include:
- Arthritis
- Bone fractures
- Dislocations
- Muscle tears
- Tendon tears
- Ligament tears
- Nerve damage
There are also many orthopedic doctors that also specialize in sports medicine. Sports medicine has a lot to do with the musculoskeletal system, but sometimes it can cover a few other sports-related injuries.
Who Should Go to an Orthopedic Doctor?
Here’s one of the most common things that people struggle with. A lot of people don’t even know what an orthopedic doctor is, let alone when they should seek out one for their own well-being.
Part of understanding when you should go to an orthopedic doctor’s office is understanding the different things that orthopedic doctors can specialize in. Yes, orthopedic doctors are already specialists, but there are orthopedic doctors that choose to further their specialization by going down a specific path, for example:
Sports medicine
-
- We mentioned this one in passing in the last section. This specialty is for treating people who have injuries from sports or other physical activities such as running or weight lifting. People in sports medicine may treat professional athletes as well as people who are just working out for fun.
Pediatric Orthopedics –
-
- This specialty focuses on children’s bones, joints and muscles because they grow differently than adults do and because children sometimes have different types of problems than adults do with these things as well. Pediatric orthopedics can also involve treating birth defects that affect bones and muscles such as scoliosis which is a curvature of the spine.
Spine surgery –
-
- This specialty focuses on treating issues that affect the spine including back pain and spinal cord injuries. Spine surgeons often work with patients who have degenerative disc disease where discs in their spine become worn down over time causing pain when they move around so much that it puts pressure on those discs or when their discs get ruptured so they start leaking fluid out into other parts of their back causing pain there too. Sometimes patients might also need artificial discs put into their spines if their own discs are too damaged to continue functioning properly anymore.
Foot and ankle specialists
-
- This specialty focuses on treating issues with your feet and ankles. If you go to an office that specializes in the feet and ankles, there’s a good chance that they’ll also have a podiatrist there so you can have all of your issues looked at simultaneously.
Hand and Wrist.
-
- This type of specialist focuses on the hands and wrists. It’s a lot like a foot and ankle specialist with the biggest difference being the area that they look at during your visits. You could also see a general surgeon or a plastic surgeon for hand issues.
There are a few other kinds of orthopedic specialists like doctors that specialize in the knees, shoulders, hips, and neck but for brevity’s sake, we’re going to assume that you can piece together what those specialists do because they’re the least complicated of all of the specialists we’re looking at today.
Essentially, if you’re having an issue with any of those areas, there’s a good chance that you should be seeking out an orthopedic doctor to help you. The good news is that you can easily go see your primary care physician first and they can give you a referral, which makes your life easier.
What is an Orthopedic Treatment Center?
Now that we all certainly have an understanding of what an orthopedic doctor is, as well as what an orthopedic surgeon is, let’s take a look at what an orthopedic treatment center is so we can put a neat bow on this article.
If you’ve read this far, there’s a good chance that you’ve already figured out what an orthopedic treatment center would be. If you haven’t, don’t worry, we’ll make sure to explain it very clearly for you.
An orthopedic treatment center is essentially just a doctor’s office where orthopedic doctors work. Well, instead of thinking of your primary care physician’s office, think of it more like your dentist’s office because it’s a lot closer to that. Dentists are, by the way, also considered specialty doctors and they specialize in the mouth.
Orthopedic treatment centers have equipment that is specially designed to be able to diagnose, treat, and even operate on issues that you’re experiencing with your musculoskeletal system. Of course, they might still have to send you to another office for more specific things, but they generally have everything you need on hand.
In fact, going to the orthopedic doctor’s office is a lot like visiting the dentist’s office. Of course, you’re going to have something else entirely looked at, but the process is going to look pretty similar for both kinds of doctors.
You show up to the office, get checked in, wait in the waiting room until a nurse calls you to the back, then you’re brought to the area where the doctor will see you. This is, of course, where the similarities end, but you get the gist of a visit to an orthopedic treatment center if you’ve been to the dentist.
Learning More About Specialty Doctor’s Offices
Your health is important to you. As they say, health is wealth. Sometimes ensuring that you’re as healthy as possible means that you’re going to need to see a specialty doctor, and knowing what you’re in for can make this a lot less stressful of an experience.
A lot of people feel a lot more comfortable with the things that they’re doing when they know more about them, so whether you have to see an orthopedic doctor or an allergy doctor, doing the research first can make you feel a lot more comfortable.
