TOTAL JOINT REPLACEMENT:   Over time, an active lifestyle can lead to arthritic destruction of your joints. Just as prolonged driving wears down the tread on your tires, the cartilage lining of your joints also wears down and wears off from prolonged use. When a knee, hip or shoulder wears out and develops painful crippling arthritis, Dr. O’Meara can replace the damaged joint to relieve your pain and improve your function and independence. “Total Joint Replacement” sounds extreme but it is actually just a resurfacing procedure that involves capping the ends of the bones in the joint. It is similar to getting a tooth capped. Only a half inch of bone is removed at the roughened end of the arthritic bone in order to make room to place a metal and plastic cap over the end of the bone. The painful raw end of the bone is replaced with a metal cap that doesn’t hurt and it lasts 20 years or longer in 90% of people.