Description: If your mother or grandmother had a knee or hip replacement, the odds are good she was in her late 60s or 70s when she opted for the surgery, and it was a "last resort" decision -- either get a new knee or start using a cane or a wheelchair.

That's not today's joint replacement surgery. With the baby boom generation hitting their 60s -- the age at which joints start to hurt and ultimately give out -- more and more people are seeking knee and hip replacements to maintain their active lifestyle.Â
Joint Replacements to Maintain Quality of Life

"It used to be about doing the things you needed to do -- literally, being able to walk," says David Mayman, MD, clinical co-director of the computer-assisted surgery center at New York's Hospital for Special Surgery. The hospital is world-renowned for orthopedic surgery and pioneered the first total knee replacement.

"Now, patients are coming to see us saying, 'I can't do the things I want to do. I can't play golf or tennis anymore.' We're seein