Joint replacement recovery is evolving faster than ever.

At Florida Orthopaedic Institute, advanced surgical techniques and robotic-assisted technology are helping patients recover quicker, move sooner, and get back to everyday life with greater confidence.

In this interview, Dr. David Johnson explains how innovation is reshaping hip and knee replacement surgery and why recovery may look very different than patients expect.

The future of joint replacement is here.

Read more on: Tampa Bay’s Morning Blend

Roxanne: So happy to be at Florida Orthopaedic Institute in St. Petersburg, talking today with Dr. David Johnson. Great to see you. How are you today?

Dr. Johnson: Likewise, I’m great. Thanks for coming out.

Roxanne: Very happy to be here and to learn about all the latest technology in joint surgery, joint replacement surgery, I should say.

And it’s kind of interesting because it seems like the bar is being raised and what you might have expected years ago in terms of recovery, people are looking for faster recovery now.

Dr. Johnson: You’re exactly right. There’s been kind of a paradigm shift with the recovery from joint replacement. Historically, patients just wanted a joint that didn’t hurt anymore. And now that’s not enough. Patients wanna go back to life faster. They want a faster recovery. They want a smaller incision. They wanna get back to life. Most patients I don’t think truly understand what recovery looks like from joint replacement.

So after hip or knee replacements, patients can get up and walk the same day. They can put all their weight on their new joint. They can go up and down stairs.And really by six weeks, most patients are back to doing most things they wanna do.

Roxanne:  Oh my gosh. When I hear about the going up and downstairs the same day, it just wasn’t like that in the past. And one of those differences in terms of the technique that you do with your surgeries, there’s muscle sparring. You’re gonna have to explain that a little bit further. I was just learning about it.

Dr. Johnson: Yeah, so for hip replacement surgery, I do all of mine from a direct anterior approach. So the incisions on the front part of the leg. We don’t cut any muscles, don’t cut any tendons. So because of that, patients typically have a faster recovery. They have no restrictions after a surgery and they get back to life faster.

Roxanne: And you also do a knee or scar that way as well?

Dr. Johnson: Yeah, so I do what’s called a bikini incision. So it’s an incision the size of a credit card. It’s kind of turned sideways on the hip. It’s just more cosmetically appealing.

Roxanne: Hey, if you’re gonna be moving around, you wanna wear your bikini too. So also talk about some of the technology that’s used. You have robotic technology to assist in some of these?

Dr. Johnson: Yeah, so for all of my knee surgeries, I use robotic assistance. And it’s a way for us to make the joint replacement more precise and more accurate for that patient specifically. So instead of cutting the patient’s anatomy to fit the implants, we’re able to adjust the implant position for that patient. It’s a better outcome for their specific knee. It’s more precise than what we used to do.

Roxanne:  And doctor, what would you say to someone who has any hesitancy in thinking, I just, you know, I have pain, but I just don’t wanna go under. What would you say to them? 

Dr. Johnson: That, you know, you hear all these stories and if you start talking to people who have had hip and knee replacements that are happy with them, it is one of the best decisions they’ve ever made. I would say if you’re having pain in the hip or the knee, talk to somebody. The conversation doesn’t hurt and find out what’s going on and what your options are. 

Roxanne: You’ll join a good club of happy patients for sure.

Final quick question for you. I love asking this. What made you decide to go into this field of medicine? 

Dr. Johnson: It’s life-changing for people. It’s very enjoyable for me to be able to take somebody through that journey and give them the life they once knew back. 

Roxanne: Thank you so much for your time today. We definitely wanna provide that information for our viewers. If you wanna check out the information on your screen, you can visit floridaortho.com to find out more. Don’t suffer, don’t remain in pain. See what your options are and reach out. Thanks so much.

Dr. Johnson: Thank you

July 1, 2026