This will be arranged for you in the Radiology Department of Al-Ahli Hospital. These investigations provide the Orthopedic Doctor with detailed images of your bones, joints and the internal organs of your body. This information is valuable to the Orthopedic Doctor in diagnosing your condition and determining if surgery is required. Your Doctor will discuss the investigation findings with you in full.

These tests will be arranged for you in the Laboratory at Al-Ahli Hospital. In testing your blood, the Orthopedic Doctor is looking at calcium levels, looking for infection in the body, looking to see how healthy your bones are and for rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, etc. Your Orthopedic Doctor will discuss the results of the blood tests with you in full at your follow up consultation.

Your Orthopedic Doctor might recommend a course of physiotherapy for you. This can be arranged in the modern, fully equipped Physiotherapy Suite here at Al-Ahli Hospital. The team of extensively trained and experienced Physiotherapists will help you through a programme of movements, manipulations and exercises to improve your posture, to regain function of muscles and joints, to improve the range of motion of a joint where there is joint stiffness and to strengthen your muscles. A course of physiotherapy might be between 6-10 sessions.

Al-Ahli Hospital boasts an in-house chiropractic service with a highly skilled Chiropractor available for its Guests. Your Orthopedic Doctor may refer you for a course of treatment with the Chiropractor. In these sessions the Chiropractic uses a hands-on approach for spinal manipulation to realign the body's musculoskeletal structure. Manipulation may be used to release stiffness from a joint especially after a trauma (fall, accident) or through repetitive stress. Chiropractic manipulation can also help in pain management by strengthening the muscles of the body and also through advice/tips on how to take proper care of your body's musculoskeletal system.

• torn cartilage
• rotator cuff tears and rotator cuff tendinitis
• impingement syndrome
• stiff and frozen shoulder
• loose bodies within the joint (either of bone or cartilage)

• meniscal tears (a tear of the cartilage)
• anterior cruciate ligament tear
• chondromalacia (a degeneration of cartilage cushion due to poor alignment of the kneecap)
• loose bodies within the joint (either of bone or cartilage)
• arthritis and degeneration the joint

• Golfer's elbow (medial epicondylitis) is a condition causing pain over the inside of the elbow. In spite of its name, this condition does not only affect golfers. Often a course of anti-inflammatory medication combined with a period of rest can alleviate the symptoms but treatment for severe and persisting conditions can include exercise therapy, injection and surgery.

• Tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis) is a condition causing pain over the outside of the elbow. Tennis elbow is a condition resulting from a strain, from repetitive use or from an injury to the elbow. As with Golfer's elbow a conservative course of treatment might include anti-inflammatory medication and a course of physiotherapy to settle the symptoms and this can be a process taking up to one year. Your Orthopedic Doctor might also recommend injection treatment to relieve the pain symptoms. If conservative treatment does not help your symptoms, your Orthopedic Doctor might recommend surgery.

• Cubital tunnel syndrome is a condition where there is pressure on the nerve at the elbow. This can be painful, especially if you lean on your elbow and you may also notice numbness or tingling of the little and ring fingers of the affected arm. Often symptoms are bad a night and more so if you lie or sleep with your arm bent tightly, you may wake with a totally numb feeling in your arm and be unable to move it for a few minutes. Initial treatment of this condition might include injection, physiotherapy and activity modification. This can work in lots of cases but sometimes surgery is required to release the nerve.

• Carpal tunnel syndrome is a condition affecting the wrist and hand. Actions such as repeated use of a computer keyboard, playing musical instruments, playing sports such as squash and tennis, using machinery, hand writing and many more can cause "pinching" of the nerves between the wrist and the hand. Symptoms may include general clumsiness causing you to drop things and problems with fine finger movements, such as buttoning shirts. Your Orthopedic Doctor might recommend testing of the nerve responses and if carpal tunnel syndrome is confirmed, may recommend surgery.

• Ganglion or cyst is a fluid filled sac that can form around joints, often at the wrist. They can be as small as a pea or as large as a golf ball. Sometimes they are quite painful depending on where they are sited, as they can be banged and knocked in our day-to-day activities. Treatment is only recommended if the ganglion or cyst is large, painful or causing difficulty. Often these cysts will go away in time without intervention. Treatment options include withdrawing the fluid (called synovial fluid) with a syringe or the cysts can be removed with surgery. Unfortunately even with surgery ganglia are prone to recur.

• DeQuervains tenosynovitis is a painful condition that affects the thumb. It is brought on by irritation and inflammation of the tendons of the wrist at the base of the thumb. As with many hand, wrist and elbow conditions repetitive movements can cause this condition. A common symptom is usually pain over the outside of the thumb, which can be acute with sudden onset or gradually increasing in tenderness. This pain might affect both the thumb and the forearm and be severe with movement of the hand and thumb, such as grasping or twisting. Your Orthopedic Doctor might recommend resting from activities which cause the symptoms, anti-inflammatory medication, to wear a thumb splint for a few weeks or injection therapy. This treatment plan alone might reduce or clear your symptoms over a few weeks however if the pain persists your Orthopedic Doctor might recommend surgery.

• Dupuytren'sdisease/Dupuytren'scontracture is a condition causing the fingers of the hand to curl into the palm. This condition most commonly affects the ring and little fingers and is more common in men. Symptoms include the development of fleshy lumps, called nodules, in the palm which over time may grow in size. Over a period of time you might also notice a thickening, a forming of benign fibrous tissue, under the skin forming cords. As the nodules contract (shorten) the affected finger(s) begin to curl (flex) toward the palm and you may not be able to flex the affect finger(s). If untreated the affected finger(s) may become permanently locked in this flexed position. Treatment of this condition is usually surgery to release the bands of fibrous tissue and straighten the finger. In most cases it is possible to fully straighten the finger. Post-operatively you will be required to exercise the fingers to maintain the straightened position and wear a splint. This follow-up treatment is essential to keep the finger(s) mobile and straight.

• Trigger finger, known as stenosing tenosynovitis, can affect one or more fingers. The tendons of the finger(s) can become locked after they have been bent into the palm and the finger may have to be straightened manually. The symptoms include pain, stiffness, a clicking of the joint as you move the finger and you may also notice a nodule, a small lump of tissue, at the base of the affected finger.

  This condition may result in difficulty in using the affected hand and the finger may become increasing difficult to straighten out.Your Orthopedic Doctor will examine you hand and in the first instance may suggest conservative treatment, that is rest, pain and anti-inflammatory medications and wearing a splint to the affected finger(s). If this course of treatment does not help, your Orthopedic Doctor might suggest surgery to release the affected tendon and allow the finger to move freely again.

• Bunionectomy/hallux valgus correction/Osteotomy. The big toe is called the hallux. When the big toe curves towards the little toe this is called valgus. The movement of the big toe causes a bony growth deformity of the joint of the toe and this is called a bunion. This condition can be very painful, making wearing shoes and walking difficult. The type of footwear you wear can affect this condition and particularly women who wear high heeled shoes can suffer from this condition. Symptoms, as well as the bony growth, might be a burning sensation in the joint at the base of the toe and the symptoms of pain and burning may be relieved with rest.

  This condition may also include the 2nd toe, as the big toe can cross over the 2nd toe changing its alignment also.

  Treatment for this condition might be to modify the style of footwear you choose and wear flat and wider fitting footwear. Pain killing and anti-inflammatory medication will help with the symptoms. You could also try splint that you wear on your big toe, which can help to straighten the toe and relieve the pain. Your Orthopedic Doctor might also recommend injection therapy to relieve the pain. In cases where the conservative treatments have not relieved your symptoms, your Orthopedic Doctormay recommend surgery in the form of a Bunionectomy, Akins Osteotomy or Scarf Osteotomy to reshape the joint and make the big toe straight again.

• Achilles tendonitis is commonly the result of a sporting injury, although it can also be the result of wearing shoes that do not fit properly causing you to walk awkwardly. The Achilles tendon connects the back of the heel and the calf muscle. Achilles tendonitis is an inflammation of the tendon. Symptoms may include aching/pain behind the heel, stiffness, swelling and sometimes redness or burning around the heel area, all of which might be worse after activity. Your Orthopedic Doctor will examine your foot and might recommend that firstly you try rest, ice packs, pain killing and anti-inflammatory medication and special heel pads to reduce the stress on the tendon. Physiotherapy and injection therapy may also be suggested. In most cases this treatment regime will reduce and eliminate your symptoms but when the condition is persistent and acute, your Orthopedic Doctor might suggest surgery to repair the damaged Achilles tendon.

• Morton's neuroma is a condition that affects the nerves between the toes, in most cases between the 3rd and 4th toes. If you have this condition you might experience pain on weight-bearing, even after standing for only a short while. This pain might be constant or might feel like shooting pain into the toes. You may have a feeling of having a small pebble in your foot. You may also feel some numbness in the toes. The pain in the toes may become worse if you wear tight fitting shoes. Your Orthopedic Doctor will examine your feet and may request and MRI scan or ultrasound scanto confirm the diagnosis.

  In a majority of cases Morton's neuroma can be relieved with non-surgical treatment and this may include modifying the type of footwear you usually wear to avoid high heels, narrow shoes or wearing special heel pads in your shoes, a programme of exercises to stretch the calf muscles and injection therapy. If this treatment programme does not work, your Orthopedic Doctor might recommend surgery to free the affected nerves.

• Plantar fasciitis is a painful inflammation of the plantar fascia, which is a thick band of tissue stretching from your heel to your midfoot bones. The plantar fascia supports the arch of the footand can act as a shock-absorber for the foot. If you have this condition you might feel pain and stiffness in the bottom of your heel. You may have pain when you rise to stand after getting out of bed in the mornings and take your first steps. You may feel a burning sensation in the sole of the foot. If you stand for a while you may find that your feet are painful and also when you climb stairs. The pain may become gradually worse over time or it may start suddenly with severe pain after activity. This condition can be treated conservatively but symptoms make take upto one year to resolve completely. Your Orthopedic Doctor might initially recommend you try special insoles for your shoes to wear under your heel. You might try pain killing and anti-inflammatory medication to relieve the pain. Your Orthopedic Doctor might recommend a course of exercise therapy to stretch the foot or recommend an injection to the foot to relieve the symptoms. Your Orthopedic Doctor might also recommend a course of shock wave therapy to alleviate the symptoms of pain.