If you have a condition that needs a local orthopedic surgeon, your local family physician may refer you to one. Whether you’re living with arthritis or have experienced a sports injury, you may benefit from working with a local orthopedic surgeon. A local orthopedic surgeon has taken education and training treating disorders of the musculoskeletal system, which includes the ligaments, joints, bones, nerves, tendons and muscles. Your local family physician and local orthopedic surgeon can work together to create a health, wellness and nutritional plan that helps you. 

Often seeing your local family Physician is a great starting place for referrals to your local Massage Therapist or your local chiropractor to help with massage and skeletal adjustments. A local Physiotherapist or local athletic trainer can help with strength and bruised muscles. Acupuncture is often recommended for chronic pain in association with your local physiotherapist 

There are many conditions that affect your body's musculoskeletal system, which involves the muscles, ligaments and joints. Orthopedic doctors work in hospitals and specialized practices.

Conditions Orthopedic Doctors Treat

Orthopedic physicians specialize in diagnosing and treating orthopedic injuries and conditions such as:

• Bursitis: The inflammation and swelling of a bursa, a fluid-filled sac that usually forms over the joints. It acts as a cushion between the bones and tendons. The most common cause is repetitive movements.
• Carpal tunnel syndrome: Compression of the median nerve as it travels through the wrist at the carpal tunnel. Symptoms include pain, numbness and tingling in the thumb, index finger and middle finger, as well as in the thumb side of the ring fingers.
• Osteoarthritis: Caused when the cartilage on the ends of the bones wears down. Often, the bones rub against each other, causing pain and swelling. Osteoarthritis is the most common  type of arthritus, affecting millions of people worldwide.
• Rheumatoid arthritis: At first, rheumatoid arthritis usually only attacks a few joints, but over time it affects more, causing joint pain, swelling and stiffness. Many people experience worse RA pain in the morning or after they’ve been sitting or lying down for a while. 
• Knee, hip and joint pain 
• Osteoporosis: It means “porous bone” and occurs when the body makes too little bone, loses too much bone, or both. Bones weaken and can easily break. 
• Sports injuries 
• Tumours: Abnormal growths found in the bone can be benign (noncancerous) or malignant (cancerous). 

Local orthopedic surgeons also perform hip replacement and knee replacement surgeries due to arthritis. During hip or knee replacement surgery, the surgeon removes the painful joint and replaces it with an artificial joint made from plastic, ceramic and/or metal. Eating an anti-inflammatory diet can also help minimize joint pain from conditions such as arthritis.

Hip replacement surgery is a procedure that is performed on patients who have a hip joint affected by arthritis. During hip replacement surgery, the surgeon removes the painful joint and replaces it with an artificial hip joint made from plastic, ceramic and/or metal.

What to Expect During the Procedure

A very common question patients ask is when should I have a hip replacement? Your healthcare provider will likely recommend that you wait as long as possible to have the surgery. Typically, hip replacement surgery is done when other arthritis treatments don’t work. At this point, patients have noticed their pain has gradually gotten worse, even when they're resting or sleeping. 

Total hip replacement surgery is done under general anesthetic. The procedure involves replacing the ball at the top of the femur (thigh bone) and the hip socket. The surgeon will either cement the artificial hip joint to the bone or use a part with a porous coating that the bone grows into. A new type of total hip replacement surgery is done through a small incision in the front of the hip, allowing for a faster recovery and less damage to the hip. However, it's important that the surgeon be highly skilled in this technique, or the results can be worse than with standard hip replacement surgery.