@sueinmn
I look at it differently. I see the various treatments not as bandaids but as progressive steps. When you’re climbing stairs you start at the bottom( least invasive). As long as that works or if it works, fine. You climb the steps as needed. I see joint replacement as the top step. To me, surgery itself is a major stress and assault on the body, to be avoided if possible. I know sometimes it isn’t possible; I ruptured a papillary muscle and had to have my mitral valve replaced in 2017. I had NO problem jumping to the “top step” immediately.
As far as delaying the inevitable, I see nothing inherently wrong with that. After all, death is inevitable but most of us would like to delay that.
As far as bone on bone in the knees, I think there are treatments, such as stem cells, that can regrow cartilage. Also synthetic disc injections.
I was told back around 2009 that the pt heard bone on bone in my knees, but I’m still going, doing weightlifting, backpacking, etc. Eveything I did before. All I do is physical therapy exercises and Tylenol as needed. In 2013 I tore the remaining meniscus in my right knee. My dr described my cartilage as a road full of potholes. The joint was unstable and when I did squats the knee would shift and the bones would grind together. I did a month of pt faithfully to strengthen the muscles around the joint and was able to take a 70 mile backpack packing trip on the Appalachian trail in New Hampshire shortly thereafter.
I guess everyone is different, and what’s right for one might not be for another