If pain in your hips or knees from arthritis has become unbearable, you may be considering joint replacement surgery. But how do you decide if the time is right to undergo this elective procedure? You may have heard that surgery is the treatment of last resort for osteoarthritis, and you should wait until all other options have been exhausted before having a joint replaced. This is true, but it should not be the last resort to the point where quality of life suffers in the meantime, says Cleveland Clinic orthopaedic surgeon Michael Bloomfield, MD.
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