Speaking of bone spurs, many people should be familiar with them. We often hear the elderly around us say that the knee hurts because of the bone spurs in it. When we hear the word "bone spur", our first reaction is that the bone spur is like a "spine", and we think that the unbearable pain and numbness are also the result of the "thorn" "piercing" into the flesh.
Is that really the case? Yes yes, yes no yes and no. So what exactly is a bone spur, how to diagnose it, and how to **? Why do some bone spurs hurt so much? Is it a disease? What are some simple and effective ways to get rid of it? Today, we might as well follow the benevolent health manager to have an in-depth understanding, what is the mysterious "bone spur"?
After reading this article, you will clearly understand:
#1.What are bone spurs?
#2.What are the symptoms that bone spurs tend to bring?
#3.Bone spurs are most likely to occur in 3 areas.
#4.Should I have bone spurs? "Bone spurs" are also called bone hyperplasiaOsteophytes are the wear and tear of articular cartilage caused by various reasons, and contribute to the repair, hardening and proliferation of bone itself, which is a natural aging phenomenon. 
Bone spurs are neither entirely made of bone nor sharp like a spine, but are lip-like growths at the edges and ends of joints. Therefore bone spurs are not a disease. It is a physiological tissue degeneration reaction, just like the graying of hair, sagging, and age spots when people get old, which is the normal aging process of the body.
As people age, their bones, joints, muscles, ligaments, and cartilage around joints will undergo degenerative changes, and the stability of bones and joints will decrease. At this time, in order to adapt to these changes and regain stability, the body will increase the surface area of the bones through bone hyperplasia, reduce the pressure on the bones, and make the bones and joints stable again.
So we can often see that the place where bone spurs grow is the part of the joint where you have the most load and are used more frequentlyFor example, cervical spine, lumbar spine, knees, heels, etc.
The growth of bone spurs is actually protecting your joints!
Cao Guanglei, chief physician of the Department of Orthopedics of Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, said that about 20% of middle-aged and elderly people aged 45 and 65 years old will have bone hyperplasia; In people over the age of 65, about 80% of x-rays show signs of bone hyperplasia.
Osteophytes can be divided into traumatic osteophytes and degenerative osteophytes.
Traumatic osteophytes:Abnormal bone growths caused by fractures or surgery can lead to traumatic arthritis.
Degenerative osteophytes:This more common, also known as aging osteophytes, is when the natural degeneration of bones and tendons is not enough to support the weight of the body, and the weight-bearing bone and joint system is crushed and rubbed for a long time, resulting in wear and tear on the bones, and the body produces a benign, compensatory vegetation as it repairs itselfOsteophytes
In most cases, the body does not experience any discomfort with small bone spurs, and the presence of bone spurs is only detected after imaging tests. A small percentage of patients may develop joint pain and motor dysfunction.
Because bone spurs can irritate surrounding muscles, ligaments, nerves and other tissues, resulting in redness, swelling, fever, pain, and numbness. In the later stage, symptoms such as joint deformity and muscle weakness will occur, which is called "osteoarthritis" in medicine.
There are three types of symptoms that bone spurs tend to cause:
Pain:The cause of bone spurs is because of damage to cartilage, which can also cause a pain reaction.
Joint stiffness:Reduced range of motion due to bone spurs can make joints stiffer.
Muscle atrophy, soreness and numbness:If there is a nerve around the bone spur, there is a high risk that the nerve will be compressed, causing symptoms such as soreness, numbness, weakness, or muscle atrophy.
Symptoms depend on the location of the bone spurs. When bone spurs press on surrounding nerves, tendons, or other structures, they cause symptoms
Such as pain, numbness, swelling, limited joint movement, etc.;
Lumbar vertebra bone spurs compress nerve roots, causing low back and leg pain, lower limb weakness, numbness, etc.;
Bone spurs in front of the cervical spine can even compress the esophagus and trachea, causing abnormal swallowing and dyspnea.
Bone spurs around the joints can sometimes limit the range of motion of the joints.
The most common site of bone spurs is the large weight-bearing joints of the human body, especially the knee joints, followed by the human spinal joints, especially the cervical and lumbar spine, in addition to the weight-bearing calcaneal bone spurs are also very common. These joints are either highly mobile or heavily loaded, i.e., areas of stress concentration. As a result, bone spurs most often occur in these areas. The spine is the main weight-bearing bone of the human body, and poor posture and habits will greatly increase the weight it bears, especially the cervical spine and lumbar spine, which have high activity frequency and are prone to degeneration and osteophytes. At the same time, the spine surrounds important nerve centers, and osteophytes often compress the nerves, leading to spinal stenosis.
Cervical spurs can cause various types of cervical spondylosis, which can cause neck pain, soreness, and even discomfort such as weakness or numbness in the upper limbs.
Bone spurs in the lumbar vertebrae can cause themPain in the lower back, stiffness, or soreness in the lower extremitiesand other performances.
Among them, lower back symptoms are usually more pronounced at rest and are relieved by light activity, while lower limb symptoms can affect the patient's motor function, such as walking for only 15 minutes, taking longer due to constant rest or slow walking.
Among the osteophytes, knee degenerative osteophytes are the most common. According to the health manager, the formation of degenerative osteophytes is mainly due to the aging of the joints of the body, and microscopically speaking, a large number of inflammatory factors are produced in the aging joints.
This is a type of aseptic inflammation that we call osteoarthritis. According to Shanshi's health manager, patients with knee osteoarthritis usually have three typical symptoms- Pain, deformity, limitation of movement.
For example, patients often experience discomfort such as pain, swelling, and limited movement in one or both knee jointsThe inner and outer sutures of the knee joint are severely unbalanced and deformable
Patients with mild knee joint degeneration usually have pain during long-term activities or in the process of going up and down stairs or climbing mountains, which can be effectively relieved by a little rest; As the condition worsens, people also have pain when walking flat, and difficulty walking up and down stairs or squatting.
Under the action of its own gravity, if you stand or walk for a long time, bone spurs may appear under the calcaneus, and at the same time, the surrounding soft tissues will appear "plantar fasciitis", which is medically called plantar aponeurositis.
These bone spurs are often painful and can be made worse by walking or standing for too long.
Bone spurs are usually not needed, but the cause of clinical pain and joint dysfunction caused by bone spurs is often caused by injuries to soft tissues such as muscles and ligaments around the jointsNon-specific inflammatory stimuli,Or after soft tissue injury, when the organic adhesion hyperplasia obstructs the local blood circulation, it will produce pain, which is what traditional Chinese medicine says.
So through non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs,Nutritional supplement for repairing joint cartilage, drugs to promote blood circulation and remove blood stasis, etc., with acupuncture, massage, etcPlasterand so onIt has the effect of invigorating blood circulation and removing blood stasis, reducing inflammation and relieving pain.
Whether bone spurs require surgery, or whether they need to be followed by medical advice, is only necessary in a very small number of people who produce osteophytes accompanied by compression or irritation of the surrounding tissues, causing clinical symptoms**. It is necessary to pay attention to the combination of work and rest, exercise appropriately, improve the metabolism of nerves, muscles, bones and joints, delay the speed of aging, and prevent joint stiffness and inflexibility.
Then again,Can bone spurs really be eliminated by medication? The answer is clearly noBecause the hyperplasia of "bone spurs" is essentially bone, not any other lesions that must be removed, so there is no need for special drugs to eliminate, if you take drugs, plasters can really eliminate "bone spurs", that also means that you can eliminate bones, the consequences of eliminating bones think about it, isn't it a joke?
Write to the end
According to the good health manager, bone spurs are a "good" thing to some extent. There is a relationship between bone growth and pain, but the vast majority of pain is not related to bone growth. "Hyperostosis" is not the inevitable cause of "pain"."Pain" is not an inevitable consequence of "bone hyperplasia". Not all bone spurs cause pain, and not all bone spurs do!
Bone hyperplasia, focusing on prevention. We can reduce the burden on joints and enhance joint stability through supplemental nutrition, weight loss, lifestyle adjustments, and reasonable exercise, so as to improve physical function and quality of life.