For anyone that has ever suffered from a bad bone break that required both a cast and surgery, the doctors that took care of them were ones that specialized in the treatment of the musculoskeletal system, and are known as orthopedic doctors. While these specialized doctors do treat things like broken bones that may require surgery, they also deal with many medical conditions 
that can affect the bones, nerves, muscles, and joints of the body.
Orthopedic Physicians Treat A Variety of Medical Ailments
Though orthopedic doctors are commonly used by professional athletes that do things like tear a ligament in their knees or break a foot, the truth is that these doctors also treat things that can affect the musculoskeletal system as badly as a torn ligament or broken bone, and here is just a few of these conditions:
• Diabetic Foot: When people have diabetes, they have too much sugar in their bodies that is being carried through the blood stream. The high amount of sugar in the body can damage nerves, and with the condition known as diabetic foot, people have numbness in their feet, pain when walking, and they develop scaly skin on their feet and lower legs.
• Arthritis: The CDC reports that one in five adults get diagnosed with arthritis every year. Out of those arthritis diagnosed adults, over 49 percent of them are over the age of 65. With any form of arthritis, there are joint problems, and orthopedics have to evaluate their arthritic patients before deciding what their best course of treatment is for their condition. For some patients, their arthritis treatment may require surgery that can be minor or major, but a percentage of them may have to go through non-surgical treatments to treat their swollen joints and regain their mobility.
• Chronic Pain: There are some medical conditions that need orthopedic doctors because it can affect the musculoskeletal system. An example of one of these conditions is fibromyalgia. People who suffer from fibromyalgia need to seek out a doctor that specializes in orthopedics because the condition cause things like muscle pain, spasms, and stiffness that can make it difficult for these people to even get up and walk around.
• Sciatica: With sciatica, a major nerve is being pressed, and because of that pressure, parts of the body like the back and hips can have pain, tingling, and numbness. To help their patients with sciatica, a doctor who deals with orthopedics may prescribe medication and physical therapy to help them deal with the condition.
• Bone Cancer: People who have cancer in their bones deal with a lot of pain. They may have tumors inside of the bones themselves, which makes them susceptible to breaking very easily. An orthopedic doctor will treat their patients not only for the pain, but also help them take care of their bones to prevent them from breaking.
The musculoskeletal system is comprised of the bones, muscles, joints, and nerves. When there is a problem with this system, the professional advice of orthopedic doctors is sought out, and these doctors not only treat things like bone breaks and nerve damage, but also medical conditions that can affect this system like fibromyalgia, which causes muscle pain, spasms, and stiffness that can make being active very difficult. Without the care of doctors that specialize in orthopedics, people with certain medical conditions would have a lot of pain in their bones, joints, and muscles that would prevent them from living a normal life.
