Orthopedic doctors can treat you broken bones that happen from sports related injuries and get you back on the slopes again in no time.

We live in an era where people of all ages are more physically active and fit, and that means most people are healthier and live longer. But it can also mean more chances for injures that require a few visits with orthopedic doctors to repair common sports related injuries to the bones and joints.

Whether it is for skiing or snowboarding, when the snow comes, the active folks hit the slopes. But the sports have the potential to be dangerous, and one misstep can mean an unexpected slide into a tree, or even a collision with another skier or snowboarder. The most common types of sport injuries that land skiers or snowboarders in hospitals and health clinics include torn knee ligaments, a broken leg, or bone spurs.

Bones are living tissue and they do more than just hold you up and create a framework for your body. When a bone is broken or fractured, it can heal itself if given time because it is living tissue and can therefore regenerate cells. But before your bone can heal, it has to be properly set to heal correctly. That is where orthopedic doctors come in.

If your bone break is messy (such as an open break where the bone punctures skin and there is some shattering of the bone), it may take surgery and physical therapy in order to set it properly. Correctly setting the bone allows your body to do what it does best -- heal and recover from the injury properly.

One of the first things that orthopedic doctors do when you fracture or break a bone is order a set of x-rays to determine the extend of your injuries. If your break or fracture was closed -- that is, no skin was broken -- it can be hard to determine the extent of the injury with the naked eye.

Once the x-rays confirm the injury, the most important thing any orthopedic doctors can do is to place all of the broken or fractured bone pieces back in their original place and then prevent them from moving until they have time to mend back together. Think of a broken china cup -- you need all of those pieces of china, both big and small, to glue a broken cup back into one piece again. Accordingly, your doctor needs all of your bone. If the injury was significant, it may require more than bone to hold things in place. In this instance, surgical screws will keep everything in place.

To keep your bones from shifting as they heal back together, most orthopedic doctors will opt for a fiberglass cast. If the bone breakage is severe, it may require a more severe form of treatment to recover such as traction before a final cast is put on to help in your final healing stage.

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