What Age-Related Issues Can PRP Treat?
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is a revolutionary treatment for many issues, including age-related joint pain and injuries. Read on to learn what other issues PRP can treat as you age.
Minimally Invasive Arthroscopic Surgery Treats These Problems
In the past, if you had an injury that required surgery, it was a big deal with an even bigger scar. However, with arthroscopic surgery, treatment of your orthopedic injuries is much easier and a lot less invasive.
If you are in need of surgical treatment, the skilled surgeons at Alpha Orthopedics in McKinney, Prosper, and Sherman, Texas, are experts at arthroscopic surgery. They can get you the treatment you need, without all of the pain and scarring of traditional open surgery.
What does arthroscopic surgery entail?
Arthroscopic surgery is a minimally invasive procedure our surgeons use to see inside your joints. This allows them to diagnose and treat any problems they may find with your bones or joints.
To perform this surgery, our surgeons use a very thin long instrument called an arthroscope. This surgical instrument has a camera on the end with a light source. Our surgeons will insert the arthroscope into a very small incision in your joint. With the camera, they are able to see a magnified view of the inside of your joint on a screen in the operating room.
If any problems in your joint are seen on the screen, our surgeons may have to make one or two other tiny incisions. This will allow them to use other small arthroscopic instruments to repair any issues they may see.
Conditions that are treated with arthroscopic surgery
Arthroscopic surgery is used to treat many conditions. Our surgeons mainly perform this type of surgery for problems related to your joints. Your knee and shoulder are the most common joints that arthroscopic surgery is able to treat. Other joints that can be treated with arthroscopic surgery include:
- Elbow
- Hip
- Wrist
- Ankle
One of the most common injuries you may need arthroscopic surgery for is a torn meniscus in your knee. This type of injury can cause you to have a significant amount of pain in your knee that may not get better with conservative treatments.
Probably just as common as meniscus tears are rotator cuff tears in your shoulder. The rotator cuff is what allows you to move your entire arm at your shoulder joint. If it tears, it can cause pain and decreased range of motion. Arthroscopic surgery allows our surgeons to fix the tear with minimal scarring.
There are many other conditions our surgeons use arthroscopic surgery for, including:
- Labral tears in the shoulder
- Bursitis
- ACL tears in the knee
- Loose body removal in any joint
- Labral tears in the hip
- Repair of torn ligaments
Not all orthopedic injuries are able to be repaired with arthroscopic surgery. Our skilled team of surgeons can evaluate your specific problem and go over what procedure will be best for you.
Recovery and expected outcomes
Most arthroscopic surgical procedures can be done on an outpatient basis. This means you’ll be able to go home not long after the procedure, as long as no complications arise. You’ll have a dressing covering the tiny incisions in your skin. Our team will give you instructions on how to care for your incisions, and details on your recovery.
The recovery period for arthroscopic surgery is usually much quicker than traditional open surgical procedures. This is because of the fact you will have much smaller incisions, meaning less pain for you in the long run. In fact, you may be able to get back to normal activities in as soon as a couple of weeks.
Recovery time will vary considerably, depending on what joint you had surgery on and the extent of repair that our surgeons had to perform. Although the incisions may heal within a few days, it may take weeks for the joint you had surgery on to completely heal.
If arthroscopic surgery sounds like the treatment you’ve been looking for, call us at one of our three locations in Texas, or schedule a consultation online today.
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