No. Most patients with early and moderate arthritis can be managed effectively without surgery. Physiotherapy, weight management, activity modification, pain medications, and joint injections are all established non-surgical options. Surgery is considered when pain, stiffness, deformity, or loss of function persists despite these measures and significantly affects daily life.
The decision to proceed with joint replacement is not based on how the joint looks on an X-ray. Many patients with severe radiological changes have manageable symptoms. Others with relatively moderate imaging findings have severe functional limitation. The full clinical picture — what the patient can and cannot do, how much pain they have, how far they have come with non-surgical treatment, and what they expect from surgery — is what guides the recommendation.
