Orthopedic surgeons, or orthopedists, treat a variety of bone, joint and muscle problems. Typically, your primary care physician will refer you to an orthopedic surgeon if you are having pain, swelling or trouble performing daily activities.

After completing medical school, orthopedists complete an intensive 5- to 7-year residency. Some also undergo additional fellowship training in a subspecialty area.

Bones

Orthopedics is the study and treatment of injuries and illnesses affecting the bones, muscles, ligaments, tendons, and other connective tissue. The musculoskeletal system provides form, stability, and movement to the human body. It is made up of the body’s bones (the skeleton), muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joints.

Bones are composed of a dense outer layer called compact bone and a softer, hollow interior known as cancellous or spongy bone. The skeleton is continually being remodeled, with new bone forming at areas of stress and old bone being broken down and removed by osteoclasts.

Regular exercise and a diet rich in calcium can help keep your bones strong for life. However, if you experience pain or abnormalities that may be related to your bones, it’s important to see an orthopedic specialist as soon as possible. An early diagnosis can often mean less pain and a faster recovery. It can also prevent the condition from worsening and lead to long-term disability.

Joints

Bones connect to form joints, which allow the body to move in various ways. These movements require efficient, low-friction mechanical bearings. Living articular cartilage fulfills this role with coefficients of friction far lower than those obtainable with manufactured journal bearings.

Joint mobility helps prevent injuries, by allowing the body to absorb shock and adapt quickly to sudden movement, reducing stress on muscles and ligaments. Adequate joint flexibility also improves posture, reducing strain on the spine and other muscles and ligaments.

Orthopedic doctors treat joint problems with nonsurgical and surgical interventions. Nonsurgical treatment includes physical therapy, home exercises and stretching, medications and immobilization with splints or casts. Surgery can include arthroscopic procedures, in which an orthopedic surgeon uses an arthroscope (a small video camera) to examine the inside of a joint without making a large incision. They can also insert artificial replacement parts to repair damaged or diseased joints. In some cases, they can fuse bones together using internal fixation devices and bone graft material.

Muscles

Muscles, a group of hundreds or thousands of muscle fiber bundles, give our body its shape and create movement. They are attached to bones through tendons, tough collagenous tissue much different in structure from muscles. These tendons have thick and thin filaments that contract the muscle by crossing over each other or combining.

The pectoral muscles, for example, are essential to upper body strength and shoulder stability. Weakness or imbalance in these muscles can lead to a host of orthopedic problems, including poor posture.

Nerves

Nerves are the “wires” that carry messages to and from your brain about movement and sensation. They are also the lifeline between your muscles and spinal cord.하남재활의학과

Your nerves are very fragile and can be injured by pressure, stretching or cutting. This stops the nerve fibers that carry information from carrying their message, resulting in pain, numbness or weakness.송파정형외과

Orthopedic neurology expands the expertise of orthopedic surgery to include injuries that affect the brain and spinal cord (the musculoskeletal system). Your doctor can identify problems with your nerves and muscles by asking you to move your arms or legs, for example, to see how your muscles respond. Then he can determine whether the problem is in your brain, spinal cord, bones or muscles and find a solution. He may use a procedure called nerve transfer, in which he moves a redundant (non-essential) functional nerve to an injured nerve site. He can also do a nerve graft, in which he takes a healthy part of a functioning nerve and attaches it to an injured nerve.