WHAT IS AN ORTHOPEDIC INJURY? AND HOW IT OCCURS?

Orthopedicinjury is defined as any injury to the musculoskeletal system. These injuries often related to the bones and joints and are usually as a result of an accident or trauma to the body.  Orthopedic injury if left untreated can cause you serious issues in your everyday life.

Common categories of orthopedic injuries:

Any orthopedic injury can fall into any of the following categories;

•  Dislocations
•  Fractures
•  Breaks
•   Hernia (Sports Hernia)
•  Impingement
•  Overuse Injuries
•  Sprains
  

Common orthopedic injuries:

Some common and acute orthopedic injuries are listed below;

• ·         ACL tear; it is an orthopedic injury which involves the tearing of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL); ligament that runs diagonally through the middle of the knee. ACL provide stability and keeps certain bones in place. When the ACL tears, it is difficult to bend your knee and may lead to instability when standing.
• ·         Plantar fasciitis; is an orthopedic injury causes heel pain. Caused by repeatedly straining the plantar fascia; the ligament that connects the heel bone to the toes and supports the foot arch. Injury of plantar fascia causes pain, weakness, and inflammation or swelling in the affected foot.
• ·         Sprained ankle; orthopedic injury which occurs while playing sports or engaging in high-impact activities or activities that involve a lot of quick twists and turns.
• ·         Meniscus tear; common orthopedic injury in professional athletes, and elderly people. It occurs when you twist or turn too quickly while your foot is in place and your knee is bent.it causes difficulty in carrying weight and knee turn.
• ·         Carpal tunnel syndrome; results from a strained nerve in the wrist. This orthopedic injury results in numbness, tingling, weakness, or pain in your fingers.
• ·         Distal radius fracture; also called as wrist fractures often occur after a fall on an outstretched hand.
• ·         Rotator cuff tear; common form of orthopedic injury. Caused by shoulder injury or degeneration of shoulder tendon over time. Symptoms include the pain and severe stiffness when you try to raise your arm or move your shoulder.

Symptoms of orthopedic injuries:

Common symptoms of any orthopedic injury include;

• ·         Swelling
• ·         Tenderness
• ·         Bleeding can occur if the break in the bone damages the skin
• ·         Major bruising
• ·         Inability to move the affected part or experiencing pain while moving
• ·         Bone sticking out at an abnormal angle
• ·         Bone sticking out of the skin
• ·         Numbness
• ·         Needles sensations and pins if some nerves are injured
• ·         Inability to rotate the injured part
• ·         Inability to put any weight if there is leg injury
• ·         Severe pain when breathing in if the injury causes you broken ribs
• ·         Shallow breathing
• ·         A cracking, grinding or snapping noise is heard at the time of the fall or accident

LEARN MORE ABOUT DISC HERNIATION

Spinaldisc herniation or disc slip is an injury to the cushioning and connective tissue between vertebrae, usually caused by excessive strain or trauma to the spine. Spinal disc herniation may result in back pain, pain or sensation in different parts of the body, and physical disability.

Causes of spinal disc herniation:

There are many reasons of spinal disc herniation. Possible reasons are;

Ø  Age related wear and tear on the spine

Ø  Improper lifting of heavy objects

Ø  Being overweight can also increase stress on the disk

Ø  Frequent driving can put pressure on your spine and disks

Ø  Smoking because it lessens the oxygen supply to the disk and causes more rapid degeneration

Ø  It could be genetically inherited

Ø  Some occupations

Ø  Weak muscles

Ø  Falling from height

Symptoms of spinal disc herniation:

Symptoms which you can experience during spinal disc herniation are listed below.

Ø  Neck pain or low back pain

Ø  Numbness

Ø  Tingling

Ø  Muscular weakness

Ø  Paralysis

Ø  Loss of bladder or bowel control

Ø  Sciatica pain

Pathophysiology of disc herniation:

Spinaldisc herniation usually occurs in lumbar spine. But it can also occur at other regions. Types of spinal disc herniation can be;

Ø  Lumbar disc herniation; it occurs in the lower back

Ø  Cervical disc herniation; it occurs in the neck

Ø  Intradural disc herniation; it is a rare form of spinal disc herniation. In this condition, spinal disc may compress the spinal cord within the spinal canal

How to diagnose spinal disc herniation?

Following are some diagnostic procedures which doctors are using to confirm that if you’re actually suffering from spinal disc herniation.

Ø  Physical or neurological examination

Ø  Straight leg raise (SLR) test

Ø  Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan

Ø  Computerized tomography (CT) scan

Ø  X-ray imagining

Ø  Electromyography and nerve conduction studies

Ø  Myelography

Ø   Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)

Treatments of disc herniation:

Depending on the severity of symptoms and nerve damage; treatments of spinal disc herniation can categorized under;

Ø  Non-surgical treatments

Ø  Surgical treatments

Non-surgical treatments include;

Rest; bed rest of one to two days can often help to relieve back and leg pain. Avoid sitting for long period for pain relief. Avoid movements that can cause more pain.

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDs) can help relieve pain.

 Physical therapy will help strengthen your lower back and abdominal muscles.

Epidural steroid injection into the space around the nerve may provide short-term pain relief by reducing inflammation.

Surgical treatments for spinal disc herniation are;

Microdiskectomy; in this procedure small incision is made at the level of disc herniation to remove the herniated disk. This process is more beneficial if only one disk is affected.

Rehabilitation; it includes simple walking program along with specific exercises to help restore strength and flexibility to your back and legs.