Orthopedics is the branch of medicine that studies, treats and attempts to prevent problems and diseases of the musculoskeletal system.
The orthopedist, therefore, is a doctor who specializes in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of diseases that can affect the complex system of muscles, bones, tendons, ligaments and nerves, present in the human body.
Importantly, orthopedic treatment is both conservative and surgical .
ORIGIN OF THE NAME
In ancient times the orthopedist was the doctor who treated the deformities of the limbs and the vertebral column in children . Not by chance the terms orthopedic and orthopedics derive from the union of the Greek words " orthòs ", which means "right", and " pàis ", which means "child".
Today, the orthopedist has patients of all ages, but, despite this, he has kept the name of a time.
SUB-SPECIALIZATIONS OF ORTHOPEDIC
Very often, during their professional training, orthopedists further specialize in one area of their discipline, becoming experts in a particular anatomical part of the body - for example the knee or the hand - or a certain type of disease - for example arthritis or tumors of the musculoskeletal system.
Briefly, the most important subspecializations of the orthopedics concern:
- The forms of arthritis and osteoarthritis
- Bone fractures
- Replacing damaged joints with prostheses
- Rheumatology
- Accidents during sports activities (sports medicine)
- Hand problems
- Shoulder problems
- Knee problems
- Spinal problems
- Musculoskeletal diseases of childhood
- Musculoskeletal oncology
