5 Questions to Ask Your Orthopedic Doctor
Orthopedic doctors specialize in the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases of the musculoskeletal system, which affect the bones, joints, and ligaments and result in pain and discomfort. Dr. Paul Dicpinigaitis, MD is an orthopedic surgery specialist treating sports injuries, fractures, hip replacement, knee replacement, and hand surgery. An orthopedic doctor can help with symptoms like discomfort, a lack of mobility, swelling, bruises, joint soreness, and joint deformity. For more information, contact us or schedule an appointment online. We are conveniently located at 5840 Merrick Road Massapequa, NY 11758.
Table of Contents:
What do orthopedic doctors do?
What to expect when seeing an orthopedic doctor?
What is the most common orthopedic condition?
What types of conditions do orthopedic doctors treat?
What is the difference between orthopedic and orthopedist?
At some point in our lives, we will most likely suffer from some sort of musculoskeletal condition, such as back pain, arthritis, or injuries with bones, tendons, or muscles. Orthopedic doctors are the physician that specializes in diagnosing, treating, and preventing these sorts of conditions. Many of these conditions involve severely debilitating symptoms causing pain and discomfort, so part of treatment includes different methods to alleviate the symptoms experienced by the patient to allow them to continue living their life as comfortably as possible. These methods may include prescribing different medications for pain relief, or injecting medication into the site of injury or condition to allow the patient to continue using the joint, muscle, tendon, etc. normally.
Orthopedic doctors specialize in the musculoskeletal system, treating anything including broken bones, fractures, dislocations, injuries in the muscles, and tears or ruptures in the tendons. While orthopedic doctors do not perform the surgical aspect of orthopedic medicine, they can diagnose and treat any condition that may be affecting the musculoskeletal system of their patient, they assist in the rehabilitation to help the patient regain movement, range of motion, strength, and flexibility after a surgery or injury has occurred. Additionally, they can help patients create plans to prevent injuries or chronic conditions from worsening or progressing. Some specialties in which an orthopedic doctor may focus throughout their career include sports medicine, trauma surgery, and specific parts of the body such as the spine, the knees and hips, hands, feet and ankles, and shoulders and elbows.
A visit with an orthopedic doctor is fairly similar to that of any other doctor in that they will need to acquire all necessary information to fully diagnose and treat you.
You should be prepared with a comprehensive outline of your medical history, and they will ask any relevant questions regarding your symptoms or existing conditions. Depending on your concerns, they may provide physical tests or diagnostic imaging (x-rays or an MRI) to fully understand the depth of your condition. Once diagnosis is complete, they will create a treatment plan with you to treat whatever is abnormal with your musculoskeletal system.
One of the most common reasons why patients will visit an orthopedic doctor is because they are experiencing lower back pain. Dealing with lower back pain is incredibly common to experience at some point in our lives, especially as we age, and it is usually fairly mild and goes away on its own. If the condition is more severe and requires medical attention, orthopedic doctors are the doctors that you would typically visit to help alleviate the uncomfortable and painful symptoms. For a condition such as back pain, orthopedic doctors are able to provide several different methods of treatment to both fix the problem as well as alleviate symptoms. Treatment options may include physical therapy to fix the problem, along with medications or injections to alleviate symptoms during the healing process. While most people will visit an orthopedic doctor because they are experiencing pain or discomfort, the role of the doctor is to treat those symptoms while also providing preventative treatment, or a means to slow down conditions from worsening or progressing over time.
While the most common conditions for which patients will typically seek treatment from an orthopedic doctor include joint or back pains, orthopedic doctors will treat any conditions affected by the musculoskeletal system. Such conditions may include but are not limited to breaks or fractures of the bones, muscle strains, arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, clubfoot or bowlegs, bone cancer, and sprains, tears, or other injuries in the ligaments or tendons.
There isn’t a difference in the terms “orthopedic” and “orthopedist”, both terms are referring to the medical specialty of musculoskeletal conditions. There is, however, a difference between an orthopedic doctor and orthopedic surgeon, being that orthopedic surgeons have the jurisdiction to perform surgery, but otherwise, they are able to perform all of other tasks to the same degree. An orthopedist can refer to either an orthopedic doctor or an orthopedic surgeon.
For more information, contact us or schedule an appointment online. We are located at 5840 Merrick Rd, Massapequa, NY 11758. We serve patients from Massapequa NY, Amityville NY, Bellmore NY, Merrick NY, Plainedge NY, Farmingdale NY, Wantagh NY, Bethpage NY, and surrounding areas.
