Joint replacement used to be called "high-tech," but it's now a common operation. Doctors replace more than a million hips and knees each year in the U.S., and studies show the surgeries ease pain for most folks and help them get around better. "Joint replacement can be a life-changing procedure for the right patients," says Tariq Nayfeh, MD, PhD, assistant professor of orthopedic surgery at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore, "but it won't help everyone with hip or knee pain.
