Different types of Orthopedic Surgeries

Due to our increased active lifestyles, orthopedic surgeries have become commonplace in sports medicine. This kind of surgery is usually performed by a certified, highly experienced, well-trained professional orthopedic surgeon. 

Orthopedic surgeries are aimed at tackling medical complications that may develop in the bones, muscles/tendons, ligaments and skeleton, among others after an injury. While engaging in sports can cause unmeasurable excitement for athletes, it can also result in minor, mild or severe sports injuries that may require an orthopedic surgery, whether aninvasive surgery or non-invasive orthopedic surgery.

Which are the most common orthopedic surgeries in sports medicine?

They are;

1.     Total Shoulder Replacement

Shoulder injuries are very common in sports activities such as rugby, wrestling, boxing, javelin, swimming and weight lifting. It is wise to seek medical assistance after suffering this kind of sports injury. Your doctor will inspect the extent of your shoulder damage before recommending a method of treatment from simple rehab to a full-on shoulder replacement orthopedic surgery. If surgery is required, an experienced orthopedic surgeon can effectively take you through the whole surgery procedure with minimal or without any complications. For a full shoulder replacement, a successful orthopedic surgery will ensure that all the damaged shoulder cartilages or bones are properly repaired or replaced with alternative metal/plastic implants to restore your shoulder joint movement.

2.     Total Joint Replacement

This is a common orthopedic surgery among athletes and non-athletes. It is not rare for those active in football, cycling, motorcycle/rally racing, rugby and running to develop severe joint damage due to overuse or injuries during an event or training. Arthritis is also known to lead to total joint replacement surgery. Patients needing this kind of orthopedic surgery have to ensure that they work with a reputable, vastly experienced, skilled and qualified orthopedic surgeon for their best treatment possible. An orthopedic surgeon will work tirelessly to replace severely damaged joints with plastic or metal parts that are shaped and designed to restore normal function or knee movement effectively.

3.     Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Reconstruction

Many professional football players, rugby, or basketball players, cyclists, runners, dancers and gymnastics enthusiasts have suffered anterior cruciate ligament injuries. In order to continue engaging in their professional sports careers, they seek medical assistance from reputable sports medicine experts. A severe ACL injury may certainly trigger an orthopedic surgeon to recommend ACL reconstruction surgery so as to restore an athlete’s knee movement. Experienced Orthopedic surgeons have the ability to reconstruct a severely ruptured ligament through surgery, even using your own or donated tissues successfully. While your knee may take some time to completely heal after undergoing this type of orthopedic surgery, the procedure can quickly improve your knee's movement, and relieve pain and discomfort efficiently.

4.     Spine Surgery

Although spine injuries are rare in major sports activities such as football, soccer, swimming, and boxing, this type of debilitating injury can be catastrophic for any athlete. Nevertheless, there have been unique cases whereby athletes participating in rugby, wrestling, skiing, snowboarding, and horse-riding have suffered spinal injuries. In such cases, an orthopedic surgeon may perform a spine surgery to boost the patient’s chances of moving again without experiencing excruciating pain. Most of those who suffer from severe spine damage may be advised against going back to active sports indefinitely or for a certain period of time.

Never underestimate the role orthopedic surgeons/surgeries play in Sports Medicine.

Remember to live life to its Fullest

Dr. Kevin Crawford

4110 22nd Place Lubbock, TX 79410

(806) 792-4329

Disclaimer:  This information is provided as an educational service only, and is not intended as a substitute for medical advice.  Anyone seeking specific medical advice or assistance should consult his or her doctor or orthopedic surgeon.

Medical Technology Transforming Sports Medicine

The advancement in technology plays a significant role in modern sports medicine. The benefits of advanced technologies allow the healthcare industry to become better, more agile, efficient, and more effective at diagnosing and treating health ailments. Throughout history, the healthcare sector has been fraught with multiple complexities and complications due to lagging medical technologies. With the skyrocketing trends in computing systems and the ability of immediately shared information, advances in Sports Medicine is at a phenomenal rate. 

Advanced medical technologies likely to bring real positive changes to the sports medicine sector in 2017 include;

1.     Injury Prevention Technology

Sports injuries are an Athlete’s worst enemy. Sports medicine companies like CoachMePlus, Kitman Labs, and Kinduct Technologies among others use advanced injury prevention technologies to ensure that those in professional sports continue to earn their incredible salaries without sustaining career-threatening injuries. This advanced sports medical innovation focuses on optimizing exercise/practice/workout plans, monitoring athletes’ heart rates, muscle fibers, blood flow or movements and collecting essential data on how they perform before delivering suitable injury prevention measures.

2.     3D printing

This is one of the medical technologies expected to make real, positive impacts on the healthcare industry in 2017. 3D printing is constantly improving the surgical processes drastically. This medical technology is all about advanced and sophisticated surgery instruments or implant devices. In coming years, 3D printing will be a vital tool in influencing the success of numerous orthopedic, implant or prosthetic surgeries globally. This technology will most likely make cancer detection, bones/cartilage replacement, heart-related ailments and sports injuries diagnosis much easier, cost-effective and more efficient.

3.     Remote Patient Monitoring

Remote patient monitoring programs are taking the healthcare sector by storm. This medical technology is not only incredible and amazing but very effective. It is now possible for healthcare practitioners to monitor their patients’ blood sugar, weight, heart rate, blood oxygen levels, electrocardiograms and blood pressure remotely. Consequently; they can give their recommendations based on the information they receive through remote patient monitoring technology. This medical technology is aimed at improving the healthcare industry significantly through a direct link to patients' monitored health.

4.     Wearable Technology

Modern athletes are embracing advanced medical technologies to improve their careers. The wearable technology involves the use of advanced fitness trackers, smartwatches, heart rate monitoring devices, and GPS watches among many others. The advantage of this sports medicine innovation is that it makes life much easier for professional athletes looking to prevent sports injuries, and enhance their performances through workouts or exercises for better results. Wearable technology devices have become every modern athlete’s best friends. 

5.     Smart Phone Apps

Smartphone apps have become very popular with sports enthusiasts. Sportsmen/women are downloading fitness/workout demonstration videos for reference during practices in order to enhance their fitness levels. Athletes have also developed a tendency of using GPS location services on their smartphones to track their agility, motion sensing, time and performances particularly when cycling, running or working out in the gym. Smartphone apps can help any ambitious athlete to improve their performances through such tracked workouts.

6.     3D visualization and augmented technology

This is one of the greatest medical technologies in the world. Orthopedic surgeons among other healthcare practitioners are nowadays using 3D visualization technology to simplify their orthopedic, neurological or ophthalmology surgical practices. This advanced medical innovation is expected to keep improving the healthcare sector by making it more cost-effective, accessible, efficient and convenient for both doctors and patients, while allowing for non-invasive surgical techniques. 

Although the future may be unpredictable, the above medical technology innovations will continue to improve the healthcare and sports medicine sectors drastically.

Remember to live life to its Fullest

Dr. Kevin Crawford

4110 22nd Place Lubbock, TX 79410

(806) 792-4329

Disclaimer:  This information is provided as an educational service only, and is not intended as a substitute for medical advice.  Anyone seeking specific medical advice or assistance should consult his or her doctor or orthopedic surgeon.