My Story

Discover how I transformed my own bone-on-bone knee recovery into a proven system to help others reduce pain and avoid knee replacement.

MICHAEL J MAYNARD MD

I know all about the pain and disability associated with knee arthritis–having intimate experience with it from both sides of the orthopedic exam table.

In practice as an orthopedic surgeon for over 30 years (since 1992), I have performed thousands of knee replacement surgeries. Meanwhile, over the course of more than the past 20 years, I've lived with the development of bone-on-bone arthritis in my own knee.

This unique “dual perspective” provided a foundation from which I have been able to shape a novel approach to relieving the pain associated with the development of arthritis in the knee.

WHAT HAPPENED TO MY KNEE

In 1969, during a high school wrestling match, I sustained a severe injury to my left knee. The resulting instability eventually led to further injuries and multiple surgical procedures.

As is typically the case, the progression of arthritis–the wearing away of the articular cartilage covering the bones in my left knee–began slowly, but continued relentlessly. Pain associated with this process eventually began to appear in response to strenuous activities or prolonged weight-bearing, However, by the time significant pain had “reared its ugly head” I had become an orthopedic surgeon.

Naturally, this caused me to ask myself the question: Is joint replacement surgery inevitably my final pathway to pain relief?

Seeking the answer to that question placed me on a course of researching, testing (on myself), and refining an approach to knee pain relief which was outside mainstream orthopedic surgical training. In the end, I developed what I now call the Knee Hardening™ System/Protocol.

In truth, it took me about 2 years from the time I first realized that my knee had become bone-on-bone until I finally achieved complete and lasting pain relief for myself. Now,many years later, I'm still running on that bone-on-bone knee. Still competing in endurance events. Still pain-free. Still no joint replacement surgery.

The year 2024 saw me complete two Spartan races. In October 2025, I participated in the Gulf to Goat charity bicycle ride–completing 1,216 road miles and 30,000 feet of climbing–from Apalachicola, Florida to the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland - with classmates from my Naval Academy class of 1975. In February 2026, I’m joining my classmates again in an attempt to set world indoor rowing records for the 70-79 age group in a 24-hour continuous rowing event.

I'm living proof that bone-on-bone doesn't always mean surgery is inevitable.

WHY I STARTED BONESMITH

Once I was satisfied with the proof that this approach worked for me, I began teaching it to people who presented to my orthopedic practice with knee arthritis. Thus far, hundreds of people have used it to successfully delay or totally avoid knee replacement surgery–indefinitely.

But here's what has now become my motivating reality: There are currently many more people for whom I performed knee replacements than there are people whom I have helped to avoid knee replacement surgery.

My mission now is to reverse those numbers.

Not because surgery is wrong—it certainly is ultimately the best choice for many people. On the other hand, as an orthopedic “insider” I know that it is also true that many people who might be able to successfully avoid joint replacement are rushed into having the surgery without being given the chance to understand and explore other potentially successful options.

MY BACKGROUND

United States Naval Academy Class of 1975
Served as a Surface Warfare Officer, and did graduate work in Mechanical Engineering at MIT, before leaving the Navy to attend medical school
Medical School at Cornell University Medical College
Orthopedic residency and Fellowship training in sports medicine and joint replacement at Hospital for Special Surgery
Private practice at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York—consistently ranked the #1 orthopedic hospital in the nation, and the world—where I also held an academic appointment at Cornell University.

But what really matters is this: I'm not just a surgeon who studies and treats knee arthritis. I'm also a person who has lived with it, solved it for myself, and has a track record which includes many years of durable success and a following of hundreds of other people as proof that the solution actually works.

When I talk about pain-relieving alternatives to surgery, I'm betting my own knees on it.