It is the beginning of the year, so if an annual orthopedic check-up wasn’t ticked off the to-do list last year, it’s something you might consider doing early on this year before everything else gets in the way.
In this article, I will share what orthopedic surgeons commonly look out for during a yearly doctor’s review.
Who needs an annual orthopedic visit?
- Children born with orthopaedic conditions
- People with acquired orthopedic conditions.
- People who have been seen by an orthopaedic surgeon in the past and were never discharged
- People who had orthopaedic surgery and haven’t yet been discharged
- Anyone who needs an orthopedic evaluation
Do you need to see a paediatric orthopaedic surgeon?
Examintions the doctor will perform include;
These are the examinations you should expect.
Gait examination
The doctor will observe you walking and running down a hall a couple of times. This should reveal the alignment of your legs, feet, and any discrepancies in your legs.
Running can help reveal some of the nuance anomalies that most people can perfectly hide when walking.
Range of motion examination
The range of motion in your joints both in the upper and lower extremities will be checked and noted if it is within the normal ranges or not.
There are always the outliers who are more flexible than others or a bit stiffer but if this isn’t a compromising function, then it’s all good.
Neurological examination
The neurological examination checks for the functioning of your nervous system.
Strength assessment
The doctor will determine your strength by assessing the different muscle groups and scoring them out of 5. The strength on the left and right sides is expected to be the same.
Sensory exam
Different sensations can be checked for in this part. These are the light touch sensation, the pressure sensation, the vibration sense, and proprioception.
Reflexes
This is what most kids find interesting. Reflex exams are commonly done with a patella hammer and cause random and quick jerk responses.
Your doctor will need to know if your reflexes are normal or abnormal.
Spine exam
This is normally the final test and it will just show the alignment of your spine and the range of motion of the spine.
There are many other special tests that your orthopedist will do but these will depend on your presentations.
In conclusion, annual orthopedic tests are vital to know where you stand medically. These can be done any time of the year but doing them at the start of the year gives you a good head start.
