If you are suffering from a sports injury, don’t just leave your recovery to just bed rest. When you’re an athlete, you want to get back into your prime shape. For that to happen, you may want to consult with a sports orthopaedic surgeon London. There are several great orthopaedic clinics in the area like Total Orthopaedics that have the expertise to ensure that you will come out hale and hearty.
However, before you walk into a clinic, there are a few things that you will need to know.
What You Can Expect
A lot of people like to consult with a general practitioner for their medical needs. However, when you are an athlete, you’ll want a specialist to help you out. Specifically, an orthopaedic surgeon should be your first stop. This is because they know all about the muscoskeletal injuries and conditions that often plague athletes.
Orthopaedic surgeons are physicians who specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of the wide variety of muscle and skeletal issues faced by people. Though many people suffer from general conditions like arthritis and more, athletes are more prone to such injuries because of the way they push their bodies. Additionally, they can specialize in particular fields like sports medicine or pediatrics.
Becoming an orthopaedic doctor requires special training. All in all, it takes 14 years of training to come out as an expertly trained orthopaedic specialist. It begins with four years of pre-med, then to medical school. After passing medical school, they then get five years of orthopaedic residency and one final year of special training.
This is why when you go to your orthopaedic doctor, you can be sure of the treatment that they will deliver. It also helps that board certification is needed for an orthopaedic specialist.
Working With Your Surgeon
Now that you know you can trust your orthopaedic specialist, it’s time that you work with them to help you recover from your injury. The first step is finding the right specialist. Whether it is simple arthritis or a more complicated sports injury, you will want a doctor who has focused their career on it. Most orthopaedic clinics have multiple doctors with different fields of expertise.
When you find the right doctor, bring in notes from previous doctors if any. This is so that they would be familiar with you and your condition. Additionally, x-rays and MRIs from previous doctors would be a big help since this catches them up.
If this is your first orthopaedic doctor or consultation, then it’s a bit easier. You will need to communicate well with your doctor. They are not mind readers so they don’t know what you are thinking and feeling. Answer all questionnaires fully and honestly and give the full history of your injury or condition. This gives the doctor an idea of what they are facing. Add in any attempted treatments or medications to ensure they know everything.
Talk with your doctor so that they know what you expect in results and you know what to expect in treatments.
If you are looking for a 5 star sports orthopaedic surgeon London, visit Total Orthopaedics today. We provide multispecialty orthopaedic services focused on top quality patient care.