Orthopaedic Conditions

Most are treated without surgery: Exercise, a splint or a brace, and time help most bone and joint problems.
A surgeon for each body area: Hand and wrist, foot and ankle, hip and knee, and the spine.
A few injuries cannot wait: A limb out of shape, or a hot, swollen joint, needs seeing the same day.

Start with where it hurts

Orthopaedic conditions are easiest to find by where you feel them. Find the line closest to yours, and start with that page — the body-area pages compare the common causes side by side.

Where it hurts	Start with
The wrist or hand	Wrist pain
Numb thumb, index and middle fingers, waking you at night	Carpal tunnel syndrome
A finger that is swollen, clicks or will not straighten	Swollen finger, trigger finger or mallet finger
The shoulder	Shoulder pain
The outside of the elbow	Tennis elbow
Between the shoulder blades	Rhomboid pain
The groin, outer hip or buttock	Hip pain
The knee	Knee pain
The ankle	Ankle pain
The heel, worst on the first steps of the morning	Plantar fasciitis
Elsewhere in the foot	Foot pain
A hot, swollen big toe	Gout
A bone that broke too easily	Osteoporosis
The neck or back	Spine and neck conditions

Some injuries need seeing within hours. If a bone has broken through the skin, a limb looks bent or twisted out of shape, or the hand or foot below it is pale, cold or numb, call the clinic straight away and come in; outside opening hours, go to the nearest emergency department (see knee fracture). A joint that becomes hot, swollen and very painful may be infected — we will see you the same day, and if we are closed, go to an emergency department (see gout). Severe muscle pain with dark, tea-coloured urine needs to be seen the same day (see rhabdomyolysis).

Hand and wrist

Wrist pain — thumb side, little-finger side or numb fingers each mean something different
Carpal tunnel syndrome — numbs the thumb, index and middle fingers, and wakes you at night
De Quervain's tenosynovitis — gripping hurts on the thumb side
Ganglion cysts — harmless lumps, and many go away on their own
Hand arthritis — finger and thumb joint pain, where the thumb base hurts most
Mallet finger — a drooping fingertip that will not straighten
Swollen finger — an injury, arthritis, gout or infection, and when to worry
TFCC tear — outer wrist pain on the little-finger side
Trigger finger — a finger that clicks or locks
Wrist sprains — the three grades, and why an X-ray can look normal
Wrist tendonitis — which tendon is sore, and what helps each one

Shoulder and elbow

Shoulder pain — the rotator cuff, a frozen shoulder or the neck, and how to tell them apart
Frozen shoulder — why it stiffens, and how long each stage lasts
Rotator cuff injury — from tendon pain to a tear, and why many tears need no surgery
Tennis elbow — pain on the outside of the elbow, and why most people recover
Rhomboid pain — upper back strain between the shoulder blades

Hip and knee

Hip pain — in the groin, over the outer hip or in the buttock, three different things
Knee pain — after a twist, or built up over months, and how each is told apart
Piriformis syndrome — deep buttock pain that is worse when you sit
ACL injuries — often without contact, swelling within hours; many do well with rehab first
Knee bursitis — a swollen cushion over the kneecap, often from kneeling
Knee fracture — kneecap, thigh bone or top of the shin: three different injuries
Knee osteoarthritis — mostly managed without surgery, and what helps at each stage
Patellar tendonitis — jumper's knee, and why loading beats rest
Torn meniscus — repair, trim or rehab first, depending on the kind of tear

Ankle and foot

Ankle pain — most is a sprain and settles; what to do when it does not
Foot pain — the heel, the ball, the arch or the toes each mean something different
Ankle sprain — how bad it is, whether it needs an X-ray, and the first two weeks
Achilles tendon injuries — a rupture is often missed because you can still walk
Bunions — shoes and spacers ease the pain but do not straighten the toe
Ingrown toenail — a sore edge, an infection, or a nail that keeps coming back
Morton's neuroma — a squeezed nerve in the ball of the foot, not a tumour
Plantar fasciitis — heel pain worst on the first steps of the morning
Posterior tibial tendon dysfunction — slowly flattens the arch in adulthood
Toe fracture — the treatment depends on which toe it is

Bone and body-wide

Gout — arthritis from uric acid crystals, often in the big toe
Osteoporosis — thinning bone that breaks easily, and preventing the next fracture
Rhabdomyolysis — muscle breakdown that can harm the kidneys, and needs same-day care
Bone age test — a hand X-ray showing how mature a child's skeleton is

For the neck and back, see spine and neck conditions.

Treatments for orthopaedic conditions

Most orthopaedic conditions are treated without surgery, and each page explains the options in order. For stubborn tendon pain, shockwave therapy uses pressure waves to help; for a knee worn beyond other help, knee replacement replaces the worn joint surfaces.

Who you will see

Dr Kelvin Tan, an Orthopaedic Consultant Surgeon for the hip and knee, including hip and knee replacement and joint reconstruction.
Dr Jeffrey Tan, a Senior Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon in general orthopaedics, with a subspecialty in foot and ankle.
Dr Arul Murugan, an orthopaedic surgeon for the hand and wrist, foot and ankle, trauma and sports injuries, who sees adults and children.
Dr Lim Heng Hing, a Senior Consultant Orthopaedic and Spine Surgeon, for the spine, deformity and joint replacement.

See orthopaedic surgery at this clinic for how they work together.

Common questions

Which orthopaedic surgeon should I see?

Each body area has a surgeon, named on its page, but you do not have to choose before booking — any of our orthopaedic surgeons can see you if that suits your schedule better.

Do I need an X-ray or a scan?

It depends on the problem. An X-ray is used when a break or arthritis is possible, but many soft-tissue problems are found by examination, and a normal X-ray does not always rule out an injury.

Will I need surgery?

Most people do not. Most orthopaedic conditions are managed with exercise, a splint or brace, sometimes an injection, and time. Surgery is kept for those that do not settle, or where an injury will not heal without it.

What is the difference between orthopaedics and neurosurgery?

Orthopaedics treats bones, joints, tendons and ligaments; neurosurgery treats the brain, spine and nerves. Both work from this clinic, and some problems — such as a trapped nerve in the wrist — are seen by either.

Do you see children?

Yes. Dr Arul Murugan sees adults and children, and pages such as bone age test and ingrown toenail cover children specifically.

Do I need a referral to see a specialist for orthopaedic conditions?

No. Bring any X-ray or scan reports, and be ready to say where it hurts, how it started and what makes it worse.

All conditions · Orthopaedic surgery · Spine and neck conditions · Nerve conditions