Bone Spurs
What is a bone spurs?
Bone spurs, also called osteophytes, are projections of your body’s normal bone structure. It is a calcium growth that develops like a deposit on the bone, building up to create pressure on the surrounding tissue and skin. As these enlargements progress, they may protrude into surrounding tissues, sometimes causing pain and other symptoms. They often form where bones meet each other in your joints. They can also be found where ligaments and tendons connect with bone. Common places for bone spurs include the spine, shoulders, hands, hips, knees, and feet. The bone spurs themselves aren't painful, but they can rub against nearby nerves, bones or soft tissues such as ligaments and tendons in the body causing pain.
Symptoms
Bone spurs may or may not cause symptoms. When they do cause symptoms, the symptoms depend on their location. Bone spurs can be associated with pain, numbness, and tenderness if they are irritating adjacent tissues, such as skin, fat pads, nerves or tendons. Some bone spurs can cause pain and loss of motion in your joints.
Causes
Bone spurs usually occur as a result of a disease or condition usually caused by local inflammation, such as from degenerative arthritis or tendonitis. As osteoarthritis breaks down the cartilage in your joint, your body attempts to repair the loss creating new areas of bone along the edges of your existing bones.
Some bone spurs form as part of the aging process. As we age, the slippery tissue called cartilage that covers the ends of the bones within joints breaks down and eventually wears away (osteoarthritis). Also, the discs that provide cushioning between the bones of the spine may break down with age. Over time, this leads to pain and swelling and, in some cases, bone spurs forming along the edges of the joint. Bone spurs due to aging are especially common in the joints of the spine and feet.


Western  Medicine Treatment
There's no specific treatment for bone spurs unless they are causing pain or damaging other tissues. Treatment directed at the cause of bone spurs may include:

• Weight loss


• Rest


• Ice therapy


• Medications


• Surgery

  
Alternative Medicine

Alternative Medicine: There is a significant progress using alternative medicine
in this area. If you want a recommendation of an expert alternative medicine
practitioner in your local area, please use Wei Laboratories’ free referral
service by calling toll-free at 1-888-919-1188, or e-mail to [email protected].
For more information, please visit Wei Laboratories’ web site at
www.weilab.com.