Two joints.
Nothing else.

Usually not. The large majority of primary hip and knee replacements are now done as outpatient procedures — you arrive in the morning and sleep at home that night. Patients with certain medical conditions, or those without support at home, may still be better served by an overnight stay, and that's decided with you well before the day of surgery.

Real, but planned for. Pain control starts before the incision with a regional nerve block and long-acting local anesthetic, and continues with scheduled non-opioid medication, ice, and elevation. Most patients need far fewer narcotics than they expect, and many stop them within the first week.

Typically two to three weeks, once you are off narcotic medication and can move your leg quickly enough to brake safely. Right-side surgery generally takes a little longer than left.

You probably don't need one yet if injections still work, if the pain is activity-specific rather than constant, or if you haven't given a real strength program a fair try. Replacement makes sense when arthritis is limiting the life you want to live and the non-surgical options have stopped delivering. That conversation is the point of the first visit.

Modern hip and knee replacements are widely reported to last twenty years or more in the large majority of patients. Implant position, your activity, your weight, and bone quality all factor in — which is exactly why the precision of the first operation matters so much.

Age is far less important than health and goals. Active patients in their fifties and healthy patients in their eighties both do extremely well. The honest questions are whether your heart and lungs can handle an hour of surgery and whether the joint is the actual reason your life has shrunk.

Dr. Elbuluk is relocating to Los Angeles and is booking initial consultations now. Send a note through the consultation form and you'll hear back with availability as the practice opens.