QI Spine Blog


Who is an Orthopedic Doctor? Understanding Their Role and Expertise

QI Spine Clinic, 9 hours ago

An orthopedic doctor, meaning a crucial member of the medical team, helps people feel at ease by providing preventive and curative therapies to reduce pain and discomfort. In this blog, we will discuss orthopedic doctors and their role in orthopedic care.

Who is an Orthopedic Doctor?

An orthopedic doctor is an expert in treating and managing diseases associated with the bones, joints, and muscles. People suffering from chronic joint pain, severe muscular or bone injuries, and sports-related injuries are often treated by orthopedic doctors. They use both surgical and non-surgical methods to repair damaged bones, tissues, ligaments, and muscles. If you’re wondering who is an orthopedic doctor, they are the specialists who help restore mobility and alleviate pain for individuals dealing with various musculoskeletal issues.

Role of an Orthopedic Doctor

Orthopedic doctors offer consultation and treatment to people suffering from diseases of the musculoskeletal system. An orthopedic doctor plays an important role in providing safe and gentle treatment to people suffering from any kind of musculoskeletal disorder. The most important duties performed by orthopedic doctors include the following:

  • Identifying the problem
  • Diagnosing
  • Prescribing medicines
  • Communicating with the physical therapists
  • Recording the patient’s medical history and progress
  • Repairing injured muscles, bones, ligaments, and cartilage
  • Providing rehabilitation care to the patients.

An orthopedic doctor should be qualified to provide orthopedic treatment and should know the latest techniques and treatments available in their field. This will help them to provide the best possible treatment to the patients. Some orthopedic doctors specialise in treating only sports-related injuries, some only deal with spine surgery, and others may specialise in treating children who suffer from diseases related to the bones, muscles, and joints.

Some orthopedic doctors specialise in performing knee and hip surgeries and they are often called orthopedic surgeons. orthopedic surgeons can have additional duties such as explaining the surgical procedures to the patients, telling them the pros and cons of a particular surgery, and coordinating with the rehabilitation team to provide aftercare to the patients.

Expertise of Orthopedic Doctors

Orthopedic doctors provide expert treatment for a wide range of musculoskeletal disorders. They have experience in treating musculoskeletal injuries using non-invasive and invasive methods. The expertise of orthopedic doctors includes:

  • Orthopedic arthroscopy: It is a minimally invasive surgical method used to see, diagnose, and treat the diseases of a joint.
  • Joint replacement and reconstruction: Some orthopedic doctors are trained to perform joint replacement and reconstruction. They use their expert knowledge and skills to treat patients with joint disorders and injuries.
  • Paediatric orthopedics: Paediatric orthopedics is a field in which an orthopedic doctor provides quality care to children suffering from congenital, neuromuscular, developmental, and post-traumatic orthopedic problems.
  • Sports medicines and rehabilitation: Some orthopedic doctors specialise in treating sports injuries. They consult the sports persons and offer them expert advice to prevent sports injuries. They also offer proper care and rehabilitation to the athletes for quick recovery.
  • Spine injuries and surgery: Some orthopedic doctors learn special skills for treating spine injuries and they perform spine surgeries to help people. They perform spine surgeries to ease pain and discomfort in the spine.

What Conditions are Treated by Orthopedic Doctors?

Orthopedic doctors treat different conditions, such as:

  • Muscular sprains and strains
  • Bone injuries and fractures
  • Joint pains
  • Chronic joint problems such as arthritis
  • Carpal tunnel syndrome
  • Sports injuries
  • Bone cancer
  • Abnormalities of the limbs, such as clubfoot.

Procedures Done by Orthopedic Doctors

Orthopedic doctors provide surgical and non-surgical treatments depending on the particular problem of the patient. Different treatments offered by the orthopedic doctors are:

Non-Invasive Treatments

Some problems can be treated with non-invasive treatments. orthopedic doctors recommend conservative treatments before recommending surgery to the patient. Non-invasive treatment includes the following:

  • Physical therapy: An orthopedic doctor may recommend particular exercises and stretches to people to enhance muscular strength, increase flexibility, and improve the range of motion of a particular body part.
  • Rest: Some people may require adequate rest and immobilisation for a few days to recover from pain and discomfort. This can help heal the sprained muscles. Immobilisation techniques used by orthopedic doctors include splints, braces, and casts.
  • Medicines: An orthopedic doctor may prescribe medicines to reduce pain and swelling of the inflamed joints and muscles. Anti-inflammatory medicines may be given to reduce inflammation of the joints.
  • Lifestyle changes: Some orthopedic doctors also recommend making lifestyle changes to their patients. They can recommend some dietary modifications, physical therapy, and exercises to recover quickly.

Surgical Methods

Some problems are not treated using non-invasive methods and require surgical intervention. In such cases, an orthopedic doctor will recommend surgery. Some important surgeries done by orthopedic doctors include:

  • Joint replacement: Joint replacement is a common surgical treatment recommended to patients suffering from age-related disorders of the knee and hip joints. In the joint replacement surgery, the doctor will replace the damaged or diseased joint parts.
  • Osteotomy: It is a surgical procedure in which a part of the bone is cut and then it is repositioned. It may be used in people suffering from arthritis.
  • Internal fixation: It is a surgical intervention in which an orthopedic doctor places screws, pins, rods, or plates to hold broken bones in place for quick healing.
  • Fusion: In this surgery, the orthopedic doctor uses a bone graft material and some internal fixation to join two bones. As healing progresses, the bones fuse into one.

An orthopedic doctor is a specialist who diagnoses, treats and provides suitable care to patients suffering from diseases of the musculoskeletal system. orthopedic doctors play an important role in diagnosing, treating, communicating with physical therapists, performing surgeries, and offering rehabilitation to patients. orthopedic doctors specialise in different fields to offer specific treatment to patients suffering from different types of musculoskeletal disorders.

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FAQs

An orthopedic doctor and an orthopaedist are the same professionals. These are just different names given to doctors specialising in diagnosing, treating, and preventing musculoskeletal injuries.

A person may visit an orthopedic doctor for several reasons, such as chronic pain in the muscles, bones, and joints, difficulty in moving different body parts, instability while walking, injuries to the bones, infection of the bones and joints, and pain in the spine.

An orthopedic doctor offers treatment to people with musculoskeletal problems. An orthopedic doctor diagnoses, treats, and helps prevent injuries to the bones, joints, and muscles. He/she is also responsible for coordinating surgical treatments with the other team members. An orthopedic doctor also provides rehabilitative care to the patients for quick recovery.

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