Be Careful on the Ice and Snow

Dr. Brad Lawson of Central States Orthopedics urges caution all year round, but especially during winter.

One of the biggest medical concerns during the winter months is slipping and falling, and possibly requiring surgery for broken bones. Hospital emergency rooms across the nation tend to see a lot of back injuries, including slipped discs and strains, from shoveling snow. Other common injuries include broken wrists, hip fractures, and even head injuries from falls.
Brad Lawson, M.D., of Central States Orthopedics in Owasso, says, “People think of getting snow tires on their car, but they never think of getting show shoes so they don’t slip and fall on the ice.” He urges older adults to be particularly cautious when walking on snow and ice.
Dr. Lawson wants everyone to be extremely careful all year, not just in the winter. “The average adult will sustain two fractures over a lifetime, according to a survey by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. About 6.3 million fractures occur each year, with 40 percent at home, inside or outside.”
Broken bones generate 3.5 million annual visits to the emergency room, with 887,679 hospitalizations. Fifty-seven percent of these fractures belong to people 65 plus, with 90 percent broken hips and 65 percent pelvic.
Do children’s bones break more often than adults? “No, they are more pliable when you are younger and get more brittle as you age. Children often engage in riskier behavior (climbing, jumping from unsafe heights, etc.), resulting in falls and similar accidents. This causes more frequent fractures. And when they get into middle and senior high schools, they play sports.”
Dr. Lawson notes that people need orthopedic doctors for a wide variety of ailments. “We treat bones, joints, nerves, tendons, and even the skin.”
He provides hand, foot and ankle care; total joint care; general orthopedics and sports medicine care. He offers non-surgical treatment options such as prescribed medications, physical therapy, injections, splinting, casting and bracing. He can also provide surgical treatment options, such as carpal tunnel surgery, fracture fixation, arthroscopic surgery, ligament repair and reconstruction, and joint replacement surgeries.
The majority of patients he sees on a weekly basis are people who have fractures of the arm, leg, foot, ankle, wrist, elbow, hand, forearm and shoulder.
If you want the skilled services of Dr. Lawson when you arrive in the ER, be sure and ask for him to be your orthopedic doctor. Dr. Lawson has provided service and sports medicine care in the Owasso, Tulsa, Broken Arrow, Claremore and Collinsville areas for the last several years. The doctor began his career in the U.S. Air Force, serving both as a general medical officer and as an orthopedic surgeon for 16 years. He lives in Owasso with his wife, Julie, and their four children.