Orthopedic Doctors Renton
Are you suffering from pain in your bones or muscles? At Orthopedic Physician Associates (OPA), our expert physicians have a longstanding track record of providing quick-healing care to the citizens of Renton.
OPA physicians are certified in Orthopedics, Sports Medicine, Physiatry, and have also received fellowship training in Trauma, Joint Replacement, Spine, Sports, and Foot & Ankle. Our physicians are known innovators in their fields and QA have developed a number of new orthopedic surgical procedures.
By working with OPA, you are putting your trust in the same orthopedic physicians that treat the Seattle Mariners and the Seattle Seahawks, and you are receiving the same level of care.
Our four most popular orthopedic services in Renton are our orthopedic diagnostics, MAKOplasty, Cartiva implants, and platelet-rich plasma therapy.
Additional areas we serve:
Cartiva Implants
Cartiva implants are made out of an organic, biocompatible polymer that functions exactly like the natural cartilage in your big toe. At OPA, our orthopedic surgeons use Cartiva to treat patients afflicted with osteoarthritis of the big toe.
What is osteoarthritis?
Each joint in your body has cartilage working in it to cushion the impact between different bones. As time passes, this cartilage can wear thin — exposing the bones below and causing them to grind together. This condition is called osteoarthritis and it inflicts great discomfort and pain on those who have it.
Besides walking discomfort, osteoarthritis can also cause bone spurs to develop on toe joints. Bone spurs make walking pain even worse, especially when wearing shoes.
How does Cartiva compare to fusion?
For years, the traditional fix for osteoarthritis has been fusion surgery.
Fusion surgery is a procedure where the cartilage is removed from between two bones and the bones are then joined and allowed to fuse together. Once healed, these become a single bone and the joint can no longer be used.
Fusion surgery has been seen as a necessary evil, for while it does alleviate the pain of osteoarthritis, it also limits your mobility — especially since the big toe contributes the majority of the propulsive force you need to walk.
In contrast to this, Cartiva doesn’t inhibit normal joint function. Patients who receive Cartiva surgery are able to walk, run, and participate in all their normal activities without inhibition.
What does Cartiva surgery look like?
During Cartiva surgery, your orthopedic surgeons will make a 3-inch incision on top of your big toe. This gives us access to the capsule of your joint. The surgeon will then clean up any prominent bone spurs. Finally, a small hole will be drilled and the Cartiva implant will be placed inside. All in all, the surgery should take less than one hour.
How long is the Cartiva recovery process?
Another way that Cortiva stands out from fusion surgery is that your toe will be able to bear weight immediately after Cortiva surgery. Fusion, on the other hand, requires that you stay off your foot for 6-12 weeks following surgery.
Orthopedic Diagnostics
If your orthopedic condition requires testing, OPA has a comprehensive collection of diagnostic services to help your physician accurately identify the cause of your pain or discomfort. If your OPA physician decides that testing is required, our technologists will do their best to do your testing during that same visit.
Not only does this save you the extra work of scheduling a second appointment, it also gives you peace of mind since you’ll be able to know what the problem is right away.
Our Renton orthopedic technologists are equipped with state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment and are well-trained in the latest diagnostic imaging protocols.
Diagnostic X-Ray
X-rays are the most common kind of imaging done at OPA. This testing is done by shining a small beam of radiation on a part of your body. While this is happening, x-ray film is placed on the opposite side of you and this collects the image as the radiation passes through your body and hits the paper.
Diagnostic x-rays are quick and easy to make but can have a hard time diagnosing certain orthopedic conditions. This is because x-rays only show two dimensions, while three dimensions are often required for accurate diagnosis. X-rays also don’t show soft tissue problems.
EMG (Electromyography)
Electromyography is a diagnostic service OPA does to check your nerves and muscles for dysfunction.
Symptoms of nerve or muscle dysfunction include tingling, muscle weakness, numbness, and muscle cramping and pain. If you have any of these symptoms, your physician might ask you to take an EMG.
PedCAT
While standard diagnostic x-rays only show two dimensions, our PedCat machine uses low-dose x-ray radiation to create complete 3D images of your feet or ankles. This enables your Renton orthopedic physician to make an accurate diagnosis of your condition.
Ultrasound
Ultrasounds use powerful sound waves to produce images of your joints, ligaments, muscles, and tendons. Whereas x-rays don’t reveal soft-tissue problems, ultrasounds help physicians identify tissue problems.
MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging)
Another great tool for imaging soft tissue, our MRI will create a magnetic field around part of your body, like your foot for example. The magnetic field causes your molecules to vibrate and this vibration is captured by 3D imaging to create detailed pictures of your soft tissue.
MAKOplasty
MAKOplasty is a state-of-the-art robotic arm technology that allows us to perform minimally invasive knee replacements. A benefit of MAKOplasty over the traditional total knee replacement surgery, is that MAKOplasty allows our Renton surgeons to leave most of your original knee intact. This gives you a faster recovery time and a much more natural-feeling knee.
What is osteoarthritis?
Osteoarthritis is what we call the wearing down of cartilage between your knee joints. As the cartilage wears away, the bones below it are exposed and begin to grind together — inflicting great discomfort and pain on your knee. Osteoarthritis can cause swelling, limited mobility, and bone spurs.
Some things that make you prone to osteoarthritis are if you have received repetitive stress injuries in your knee, have knee problems in your family history, or have metabolic disorders.
How does MAKOplasty work?
OPA uses the RIO® Robotic Arm Interactive Orthopedic System to conduct our MAKOplasty surgeries. This tool allows us to perform results-focused, yet minimally invasive, partial knee replacement surgery.
The first thing we’ll do is take a computed tomography (CT) scan of your knee. This scan is then delivered to the RIO® system, which creates a 3D anatomical model. Your Renton orthopedic surgeon will use the 3D model to plan and test where your knee implants will go.
Once the orientation of your implant is decided on, the surgeon will remove any damaged parts of your knee, while making sure to maintain as much of your original knee structure as possible. Next, the RIO® robotic arm works with your surgeon to align and set your implant into the knee.
How long is the recovery period?
Another strong perk of choosing MAKOplasty instead of traditional knee replacement surgery is that you should be able to begin walking just a few hours after surgery is completed. Many patients are able to have MAKOplasty on an outpatient basis at our ambulatory surgery center.
Platelet-Rich Plasma Therapy
Platelet-rich plasma therapy, also known as PRP, puts your body’s own healing abilities to work for you. By injecting a dose of your own platelet-rich plasma into an injury, we help your natural healing abilities work faster, speeding up the healing process for injured tendons, joints, muscles, and ligaments.
Here at OPA, our Renton sports medicine physicians are trained in the administration of platelet-rich plasma and are ready to help you get back on your feet.
What is platelet-rich plasma?
Platelets serve a vital role in your body, as they are the clotters that prevent you from bleeding out. Platelets are neither cells or molecules, but when administered in a concentrated dose, these clotters can facilitate faster healing in your soft tissue.
How does platelet-rich plasma work?
Once you and your physician decided that PRP is the best option for treatment, the process is a simple outpatient procedure.
Your orthopedic doctor will create platelet-rich plasma by withdrawing some of your blood. The blood is then separated into layers by being spun in a centrifuge — this causes the platelets to separate and rise to the top. Once separated, the platelets are withdrawn by a syringe. They are now considered platelet-rich plasma and it is this which is injected at the location of your injury.
The science behind platelet-rich plasma is based on the fact that platelets are rich in growth factors and healing cytokines. By injecting platelet-rich plasma into an injury, we are bathing your injured tendons, joints, or muscles in a wash of healing factors that contribute to faster recovery time.
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Orthopedic Doctors In Renton
If you are a Renton resident who is growing tired of your arthritis pain, or if you’ve suffered a sports injury, come see us today. We will discuss your symptoms and help you decide what diagnostic and recovery procedures are best for your condition.