An auto accident can wreak havoc on your body. As you drive your car, your body moves at the same speed as the car. During a collision, your body continues to move until it is stopped by an airbag, seatbelt, or another barrier. This abrupt change in momentum can result in fractures and broken bones, soft tissue injury, traumatic brain injury, and internal bleeding.
These types of injuries do not always occur immediately; therefore, it is vitally important for you to consult a spine surgeon, who will provide a comprehensive examination of your symptoms, determine the extent of damage on your body, and develop an effective treatment plan.
Who Is an Orthopedic Spine Surgeon?
An orthopedic spine surgeon is a fellowship-trained and board-certified Medical Doctor who specializes in the musculoskeletal system, that is, the ligaments, bones, tendons, muscles, and joints essential to the body’s normal movement. Orthopedic spine surgeons provide non-operative treatments to provide symptomatic relief and enhance the quality of life of patients.
What Does an Orthopedic Spine Surgeon Do?
An orthopedic spine surgeon is a medical doctor (MD) or doctor of osteopathic medicine (DO) who has completed a five-year residency in orthopedic surgery and has specialized in the diagnosis and treatment of all bone and joint disorders including, bone tumors, sports injuries, hand injuries, and deformities, and spinal conditions. Some orthopedic surgeons focus their practice entirely on spine surgery, others on different types of joints (such as shoulders, knees, and hips), and others do both.
An orthopedic surgeon works with the patient throughout the entire process, from diagnosis to treatment to rehabilitation. Once treatment is complete, the orthopedic surgeon will continue supervising the patient, following the patient’s progress through physical therapy and pain management, and ensuring that the patient is fully rehabilitated. Orthopedic surgeons work in hospitals and practices.
If you are seeking the services of an orthopedic surgeon, you have come to the right place. Here at New York Spine Specialist, we offer a full range of treatment options and have a team of specialists specializing in the interventional treatment of common and complex spinal conditions. Our specialists provide expertise in interventions and procedures to alleviate symptoms from spine-related conditions such as spinal instability, back or neck pain, pinched nerves, spinal stenosis, and slipped discs. Our team regularly treats medical diagnoses such as degenerative disc disease, Myelopathy, and scoliosis. If you are suffering from any of these problems, please contact our doctors, who are prepared to treat any spinal condition that your primary care physician has discovered.
Spine Fellowship
Spine surgeons are medical doctors who have a DO or an MD, both of which require the same certification and medical school training to specialize in spine surgery. After completing medical school, doctors who want to specialize in orthopedic surgery need to graduate from an approved residency program and sub-specialize in spinal surgery. After they complete their residencies, the doctors need to spend a minimum of one year completing fellowship training so that they can specialize in spine surgery.
After residency, spine surgeons can further their training by completing a spine fellowship program, which provides extended, specialized training for orthopedic surgeons who have completed their residency training and earned eligibility in their area of specialty.
What Are the Typical Procedures That Orthopedic Surgeons Perform?
Orthopedic surgeons typically perform procedures such as spinal fusion, discectomy, foraminotomy, and laminectomy. With that said, the approach and method used to perform these procedures depend on the patient’s condition and the location of the problem.
The surgeon makes long and deep cuts through muscles in traditional spine surgery, leaving long scars that require more time to heal. On the other hand, with minimally invasive surgery, the surgeon inserts a few tubular dilators to widen the opening, allowing the surgeon to access that area without cutting muscle tissue.
Spine surgeons perform different types of surgeries for patients who have been involved in auto accidents, including:
- Back Surgery: Car accidents can cause severe back injuries such as torn soft tissues, herniated discs, and a broken vertebra. Common back surgeries include:
- Laminectomy: With this procedure, spine surgeons remove the back portion of the vertebrae to relieve pressure.
- Spinal Fusion: Spine surgeons connect two or more vertebrae to relieve pain and provide better stability.
- Discectomy: Here, spine surgeons remove a small part of a herniated disc to relieve compression, irritation, or pressure on your nerves.
- Brain Surgery: Patients who have suffered traumatic brain injuries usually need surgery to remove clots, relieve pressure buildup in the skull, or repair a skull fracture.
- Surgery to Stabilize Bone Fractures: In some cases, broken fractures can be treated with immobilization for a few weeks or with a cast. However, severe fractures may need surgery, especially if the bone has broken into several pieces. In such cases, surgeons use plates, pins, rods, and screws to stabilize the bone while it heals.
We perform different New York Spine Specialist procedures, including laminectomy, anterior cervical discectomy and fusion, lumbar disc microsurgery, cervical posterior foraminotomy, and cervical facet radiofrequency. We perform traditional open spine surgery where we completely expose the anatomy and minimally invasive spine surgery that exposes less of the anatomy. It is important to note that not every surgical condition warrants a minimally invasive approach; therefore, we recommend partnering with our spine specialists, who will help you identify which procedure is ideal for your condition.
What Types of Ailments Do Our Spine Specialists Treat?
At New York Spine Specialist, we treat different types of spine disorders ranging from sciatica to slipped discs. We treat patients who come to us with degenerative disc disease and scoliosis and patients who have spinal instability issues related to neck pain or back pain. We also treat patients who have congenital spine disorders, spinal stenosis, neck and back injuries, spinal deformities, and herniated discs. If you are suffering from any of these conditions, please contact us today to book an appointment. Our fellowship-trained and board-certified doctors have helped hundreds of patients get back to living pain-free and can help you too.
Contact the New York Spine Specialist for Auto Accident Injury Treatment
If you are looking for a spine specialist in New York, look no further than New York Spine Specialist. Our medical doctors are trained and experienced in advanced spinal surgery techniques such as lumbar interbody fusion, anterior interbody fusion, lumbar disc microsurgery, and medial branch block. They also provide specialized spine care, never compromising on attention to detail and professionalism.
Even though we perform traditional spine surgery, we lean more toward minimally invasive surgery because we want our patients’ procedures to result in less blood, lower infection rates, shorter hospital stays, and quick recovery post-surgery. We also help patients who do not need surgery navigate other treatment options by referring them to the appropriate spine care provider to help alleviate their problem.
Our team consists of physicians and surgeons who work collaboratively to develop treatment plans tailored to each patient’s needs. We are committed to improving our patients’ quality of life, alleviating their pain, and enhancing their day-to-day life activities. Contact us today at (516) 355.0111 or request an appointment by completing our contact form. We accept no-fault insurance, PIP (personal injury protection), workers’ compensation, and other health insurance plans.
