Bone Spurs: What Causes Them and What Actually Helps?

Quick Answer

Bone spurs are smooth bony growths that form at the edges of joints, usually as a response to long-term wear such as osteoarthritis. Most cause no symptoms. When they hurt, it is usually because they press on nearby nerves or tissue, and most people improve with activity changes, exercise and simple pain relief.

What Are Bone Spurs?

Bone spurs, also called osteophytes, are small, smooth bony growths that develop along the edges of bones. Despite the name, they are rarely sharp. They form slowly over months or years as the body tries to stabilise a joint that is under extra stress.

Many people have bone spurs without knowing it. They are often found by chance on an X-ray taken for another reason.

What Causes Bone Spurs?

The most common cause is osteoarthritis. As cartilage thins, the joint becomes less stable, and the bone responds by adding extra material at the edges. Other contributing factors include:

• Age - bone spurs become more common after 50
• Repetitive load - long-term sport, heavy manual work or high body weight
• Past injury - an old fracture, ligament tear or meniscus injury can change how a joint is loaded
• Spinal wear - disc degeneration can lead to spurs on the vertebrae
• Tendon and ligament strain - for example at the heel where the plantar fascia attaches

Bone spurs often appear alongside other arthritis changes, such as subchondral sclerosis and bone spurs, which describes the hardening of bone beneath the cartilage.

Where Bone Spurs Commonly Form

Bone spurs can appear in almost any joint, but some locations are more typical:

• Knee - at the edges of the thigh bone, shin bone and kneecap
• Hip - around the rim of the socket
• Spine - on the neck and lower back vertebrae
• Shoulder - under the bony arch that protects the rotator cuff
• Heel - where the plantar fascia attaches to the heel bone
• Fingers - forming small bumps at the finger joints

Bone Spur Symptoms: When Do They Hurt?

A bone spur on its own is not usually painful. Symptoms appear when it rubs against or presses on nearby structures. Common signs include:

• Joint pain and stiffness, especially after rest or activity
• Reduced range of movement
• A firm, bony bump you can feel, often in the fingers
• Numbness, tingling or weakness if a spur narrows a space where a nerve passes, such as in the neck or lower back
• Pain when lifting the arm if a shoulder spur irritates the rotator cuff

Pain is often caused by the wider arthritis process, such as inflammation and cartilage loss, rather than the spur alone.

How Bone Spurs Are Diagnosed

An X-ray is usually enough to show bone spurs. If symptoms suggest nerve or soft tissue involvement, a doctor may request an MRI or CT scan. A physical examination is just as important, because the size of a spur on a scan does not reliably predict how much it hurts.

What Actually Helps Bone Spurs

There is no tablet or supplement that dissolves bone spurs. Treatment focuses on easing symptoms and protecting the joint.

| Option | What it does | Best suited to | |---|---|---| | Activity changes | Reduces repeated irritation | Most people, first step | | Strengthening exercise | Supports and stabilises the joint | Knee, hip, shoulder and back | | Weight management | Lowers load on hips and knees | Weight-bearing joints | | Pain relief and anti-inflammatories | Eases flare-ups short term | Painful episodes | | Supportive footwear or insoles | Reduces heel pressure | Heel spurs | | Steroid injection | Calms local inflammation | Persistent flares | | Surgery | Removes the spur or frees a nerve | Nerve compression or failed care |

Some people with arthritis-related symptoms also ask about regenerative approaches. These aim to support the joint environment rather than remove a spur, and the evidence is still developing. What is stem cell therapy explains how these approaches are studied.

When to See a Doctor

Seek medical advice if you notice:

• Numbness, tingling or weakness in an arm or leg
• Pain that disturbs sleep or keeps getting worse
• A joint that locks or gives way
• Loss of bladder or bowel control, which needs urgent care

Common Questions

Can bone spurs go away on their own?

Bone spurs do not usually shrink by themselves. Symptoms, however, often settle with exercise, activity changes and time.

Are bone spurs dangerous?

Most are harmless. They become a concern mainly when they press on a nerve or the spinal cord.

Do bone spurs mean I have arthritis?

Often, yes. Bone spurs are one of the typical X-ray signs of osteoarthritis, although they can also follow injury or tendon strain.

Can massage or supplements remove bone spurs?

No. Massage may ease surrounding muscle tension, but no massage or supplement has been shown to dissolve bone.

When is surgery needed for bone spurs?

Surgery is considered when a spur compresses a nerve, severely limits movement, or causes pain that does not improve with several months of conservative care.

Key Takeaway

Bone spurs are smooth bony growths that usually form as part of osteoarthritis or long-term joint stress, and most never cause symptoms. When they do hurt, the pain often comes from the wider joint changes or from pressure on nearby nerves and tendons, so the most helpful first steps are strengthening exercise, activity changes, weight management and short-term pain relief. Injections and surgery are kept for persistent symptoms, and any numbness, weakness or worsening pain should be checked by a doctor.

References

1. Bone Spurs - Cleveland Clinic 2. Osteoarthritis - MedlinePlus 3. Osteoarthritis in over 16s: diagnosis and management - NICE guideline NG226 4. Subchondral bone in osteoarthritis: insight into risk factors and microstructural changes