Over 100 million Americans suffer from chronic pain and a lot of the time it is something that needs to be managed by a professional. Having an injury doctor can lead to a much better outcome in the long run and may also help monitor your situation and make sure it doesn’t get too out of hand. There are many different types of injury, some are serious, and others are minor, but the first step is to see a specialist and see if they can identify what steps need to be taken.
When it’s time to meet an injury doctor
If you have recently experienced an accident or an injury, you may be experiencing some pain that can’t be managed through at-home treatments. You have tried the stretching, the light exercise and even some over the counter medication, but the pain persists. If you have done all that you can to manage the pain, but the injury persists, then it may be time to see an injury doctor. An injury doctor can help you manage the symptoms of the pain, but also, they can help make sure you are on the road to recovery so that this problem does not persist.
Different Types of Injury
There are a few different types of injury and a few different specialists to treat each one. First, there are pain medicine specialists. A pain medicine specialist is an injury doctor that treats and manages pain that’s cause by surgery, nerve damage and even chronic conditions like diabetes. These specialists can use medicines administered orally or through injections to treat the pain. (It’s important to note that pain management is not only treated through medication, pain management can be a regiment of exercise, therapy and lifestyle changes that help manage pain without the use of constant medications and injections).
A second type of injury doctor is an orthopedic specialist or orthopedic surgeon. These doctors treat injuries that affect your musculoskeletal system, including your bones, joints, nerves, ligaments, tendons and muscles. In more benign cases, the doctors can recommend various types of movements or physical therapy to treat the condition, or they can also recommend surgery in more extreme cases.
A third category of injury doctor is physiatrists or rehabilitation physicians. These specialists cover conditions related to movement. They can also diagnose and treat pain that relates to the musculoskeletal system.
A fourth category of injury doctor is rheumatologists. These specialists treat the types of injury that involve rheumatic diseases. In case you have not heard of this term before, it can include conditions such as gout, arthritis or tendinitis. These conditions can cause swelling of the muscles, joints or bones, which can be quite painful for the patient. The rheumatologist takes on the responsibility of administering medication to help reduce the swelling or stiffness and bring down the overall pain.
Finally, you have physical therapists. This type of injury doctor is most widely known, and they can treat far less serious types of injury. These specialists work with people to help them recover and they can use a wide range of non-invasive treatments such as stretching, light exercise, and a combination of heat and ice.
If you are not sure what types of injury you are experiencing or what type of injury doctor you need to see, we recommend you schedule a free consultation with La Clinica SC. This clinic can help treat patients in the Chicago area, and they have some great resources and people available.