Dr. Derick F. DeLima

I'm Dr. Derick Delima, I'm an Orthopaedic surgeon for the last 40 years, and welcome to the holy family hospital. Today I am going to talk about these 3 topics which are familiar to us. The 1st injury is to the bones and joints to ligaments. This is a common thing seen by all of us and is not only restricted to sportspersons, cricket lovers, and football fans but also to you and me who cross our roads and walk our pavements. The sight of a twisted ankle or a broken bone is familiar to all of us.

So how do you manage such an injury? you manage it with simple first aid. If you have a bleeding wound, you cover it with a simple cloth. You then rest it with whatever is available like a piece of cardboard or a piece of stick or a foot roller. You then apply ice and apply a firm bandage. You then shift the person or you shift yourself to the casualty of the holy family hospital. At the casualty, the doctor will examine you and relieve you of your pain. He will then run a few tests like an X-ray or a CT scan which will give him a better understanding of your injury and also how best to treat you. 90% of the injuries require just a simple plaster medication and physiotherapy.

Should you require surgery then you will be counseled and you will be offered either an arthroscopic or a laser procedure, a surgery like inserting a steel plate or a steel rod. All this is done to see that you get back to your normal life as soon as possible. I can assure you, you'll get the best treatment in the holy family hospital.

The second topic I am going to talk about is osteoporosis and osteoarthritis. Osteoporosis is a weakening of the bone and osteoarthritis is a wear and tear of the bone as we get older. The treatment of osteoporosis is generally prevented that is when you are less than 40 years old, you should exercise and take in so much calcium, so that when you reach 50. You have so much calcium that your bones will not break. The other treatment should you have osteoporosis, treatment lies in taking medication for long periods of time, injections and if you get a fracture, the treatment is with surgery.

Osteoarthritis is a wear and tear of your joints as you get older joints to wear out because of weight, age, and work. There is nothing you can do for age and work. But you can decrease the load on the joint by decreasing your weight. The treatment of osteoarthritis is again medication and physiotherapy. But should you need surgery, we offer you a joint replacement, which means we will replace the painful joint with an artificial joint. Which will relieve you of your pain.

Finally, I would like to talk to you about general wellbeing and health. When you are close to 40, it's a good idea to include, an exercise program. Which means walk for about 1 hour everyday and over a period of 1 year, to see that you do 6 kilometers in that one hour. Also gradually change your diet to become a vegetarian diet predominantly and finally keep your weight under control. I conclude this presentation, by saying that I am not happy to see you as a patient in the hospital. But I will be happy should you need me to treat you.