Ashish D. Diwan is an Orthopedic Surgeon working at St. George & Sutherland Clinical School in Sydney, NSW, Australia.
His day-to-day work is mainly about keeping the spine and joints as healthy as they can be. This can include ongoing back and neck problems like herniated discs, invertebral disc disease, sciatica, and acute pain. He also looks after issues where the spine or bones don’t line up in the usual way, such as spondylolisthesis, scoliosis, kyphosis, and lordosis.
At times, people also come in with nerve-related symptoms. That might include neuralgia, myelopathy in the neck, or other nerve pain that affects how you feel and how you move. Over time, he helps patients who are dealing with conditions like cervical spondylosis, and people with facet joint pain or similar sources of discomfort.
It’s not only the spine. He also treats a range of joint and bone problems. That can mean arthritis and osteoarthritis, bursitis, frozen shoulder, and knee problems that may need treatment such as knee replacement. Some patients have hypermobile joints or Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), where pain and joint stability can be a big part of the story. There are also times when weight and long-term strain play a role, so obesity and related stress on the body is considered as part of care.
For treatment, Dr Diwan works in a practical way, aiming to match the plan to what’s going on for each person. In many cases this includes non-surgical options first, and then surgery when it’s the best step. He has experience with procedures such as microdiscectomy and spinal fusion, along with other spine operations when needed. Knee replacement and other bone and joint surgeries are also part of the mix.
Training and education are important in his work, especially when guidelines and techniques keep changing. He stays current with new evidence and best-practice approaches, so care keeps up with what we know now.
Clinical trials and research aren’t always part of everyday care, but research can still be useful in some situations. If a trial option is relevant and available, it can be discussed as part of working out the safest, most suitable next step.