How to Prepare for Your First Orthopedic Visit 

There’s a first time for everything. However, first times can be nerve-racking for some people, like visiting a new orthopedic doctor for a fracture from a fall or lingering knee pain. Like many visits to the doctor, your initial consultation involves a diagnosis and mapping out a treatment plan. Whatever your visit might be for, open communication and planning are vital to achieving satisfactory outcomes.

By the end of this article, I hope you will have enough information to put your mind at ease and prepare for your visit, including what to bring to the office and the various nonsurgical and surgical treatment options your surgeon may recommend specifically for your condition.

What to Expect During Your Appointment

The first steps are like any trip to the doctor’s office. Your orthopedic surgeon will conduct a thorough evaluation, which includes gathering information about your medical history (past illness or surgeries), followed by a physical examination. Make sure to provide all pertinent information to help point your orthopedic surgeon to the correct diagnosis. You may also expect additional tests, such as blood tests and/or diagnostic studies (X-rays, magnetic resonance imaging [MRI] and computed tomography [CT] scans).

If you have had these tests done before your visit, either through your electronic medical record or the hard copies you brought, your doctor may not need to order new tests. However, it will depend on how much time has passed since the tests were performed and your current condition.

At this point in the visit, your orthopedic surgeon will discuss your diagnosis and options, whether to help you select the best treatment plan to help manage your condition while living an active and functional life or give you a referral to another specialist according to your needs, such as another orthopedic surgeon, rheumatologist or an oncologist.

Preparing for Your Appointment

Deciding that it’s time to see an orthopedic surgeon for your pain can be a source of relief or anxiety. Planning not only helps you know what to do on the day of the appointment, it can also help you prepare for the best possible outcome. Here are some tips to help you prepare for your first appointment with an orthopedic surgeon and make the most out of it:

• List all medications you take, including over-the-counter medicines, herbal preparations and vitamin supplements.
• Bring any relevant medical records to the doctor’s office, including copies of imaging studies, lab test results and medical records from other doctors. Save a copy of your imaging studies on a disk in case your doctor’s office doesn’t have electronic access to the images.
• Write down a list of questions about your diagnosis and/or treatment before your visit so you remember all essential inquiries. Don’t hesitate to ask questions, no matter how small or insignificant they may seem.

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Treatment Options

As an orthopedic doctor, we deal with various musculoskeletal conditions ranging from twisted ankles to severe arthritis. Nonsurgical treatment options may address a condition effectively or help improve your symptoms enough to help delay the need for a surgical procedure.

For pain caused by fatigue or injuries, we begin with the most conservative methods, such as painkillers or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), to help reduce pain and swelling. Other conventional treatment options are anti-inflammatory injections, electrical nerve stimulation that transmits low-level electrical charges into the area in pain, and exercise and physical therapy to help restore mobility and range of motion and improve strength.

However, we may recommend surgery if your symptoms do not respond well to conservative treatments or alternative therapies. Patients with fractures usually have a splint or cast to immobilize the bone while it heals. For severe fractures or broken bones that have resulted in multiple bone fragments or misalignment, we will need to perform surgery to set or secure the pieces of bone fragments in place using pins and screws.

Some of the most common surgical treatments for musculoskeletal conditions include cartilage restoration to help slow the progression of osteoarthritis; fusion to allow bones to heal into a single solid bone through a welding process; and joint replacement (partial, total and revision) to remove or repair arthritic or damaged joints usually in the hip and knee.

On a Finale Note

The best way to manage your orthopedic health problems is to educate yourself about the condition and the available treatments to help with your symptoms. A doctor’s visit can help you do just that and reduce the anxiety that may come with an orthopedic condition, especially with lifelong pain. Successful treatment for more serious orthopedic conditions takes time. It may require several trips to the doctor’s office, but the investment is worth it to help you move freely without getting held back by orthopedic pain and limited range of motion.

Sending wishes of good health your way, always.