Bone spurs, also known as osteophytes, are bony projections that form along joints and are often seen in conditions such as arthritis. The bone spurs themselves aren’t painful, but they can rub against nearby nerves and cause pain.
Bone spurs can form on any bone, and they often form where bones meet each other — in your joints. But, they can also be found where ligaments and tendons connect with bone. Bone spurs can also form on the bones of your spine.
Causes Of Bone Spurs
A bone spur forms as the body tries to repair itself by building extra bone. It generally forms in response to pressure, rubbing, or stress that continues over a long period of time.
Diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH). This condition causes bony growths to form on the ligaments of your spine.
Plantar fasciitis. A bone spur, sometimes called a heel spur, can form where the connective tissue (fascia) connects to your heel bone (calcaneus). The spur results from chronic irritation or inflammation of the connective tissue, but the spur itself doesn’t cause the pain associated with plantar fasciitis.
Spinal stenosis, narrowing of the spine, can cause spinal cord irritation and injury. Conditions that cause spinal stenosis include infection, tumors, trauma, herniated disc, arthritis, thickening of ligaments, growth of bone spurs, and disc degeneration. Spinal stenosis most commonly occurs in older individuals as a result of vertebral degeneration.
Symptoms of Bone Spurs
Medical providers often refer to the changes as spinal arthritis or osteoarthritis of the facet joints, and this condition is a common cause of back pain in the older patient population (over 55 or 60). This condition can cause stiffness and lower back pain that is usually worse in the morning, gets better after moving around, then gets worse again at the end of the day.
On your spine, bone spurs can push against your nerves, or even your spinal cord, causing pain and numbness elsewhere in your body.
In your knee, bone spurs may make it painful to extend and bend your leg. Bone spurs can get in the way of bones and tendons that keep your knee operating smoothly.
On your spine, bone spurs can push against your nerves, or even your spinal cord, causing pain and numbness elsewhere in your body.
Treatment of Bone Spurs
Bone spurs that limit your range of motion or cause other problems that limit your ability to go about your day may require surgery. What surgical options you have will depend on where your bone spurs are located and your particular situation. For instance, bone spurs are often removed as part of a more comprehensive surgery for arthritis. If you have arthritis in your elbow, for example, your surgeon may remove bone spurs when he or she is making other repairs to your elbow.
Usually hammertoes can be repaired without using pins or wires, but sometimes this is necessary. In some extremely deformed toes your doctor will recommend an implant to be placed inside the joint to help maintain alignment. Earlier ambulation is encouraged with the use of a post-operative shoe.