What Are the Treatments for Bone Spurs in the Cervical Spine?
- Cervical Traction. Cervical or neck traction is an effective treatment for bone spurs. ...
- Physical Therapy Exercises. Physical therapy exercises may be helpful in the treatment of neck OA and bone spurs. ...
- Surgery. ...
How can you eliminate bone spurs without surgery?
Dec 22, 2021 · The Spine Pro can help treat spinal bone spurs through a minimally invasive approach called biportal endoscopic spine surgery (BESS). To perform BESS, your surgeon will make two small incisions roughly a quarter to a third of an inch.
How do you treat osteophytes in the spine?
Spinal bone spur treatment usually involves anti-inflammatory medication, rest, activity modification, exercises to strengthen core muscles that provide support for our back. If needed, physical therapy will be added to the treatment plan.
What does a bone spur on the spine feel like?
At DISC, our highly skilled orthopedic surgeons specialize in a wide range of treatment options that aim to reduce the inflammation and pain produced by spinal bone spurs. After ensuring an accurate diagnosis using our Personalized Pain Diagnostics (PPD), we usually start with nonoperative treatments, such as:
How do you treat a bone spur in the neck?
A bone spur in the lumbar region may cause pain, stiffness, numbness, tingling or weakness in the lower back and surrounding tissues and joints, sometimes extending to the legs and feet. A spur on the thoracic spine can bring pain and discomfort to the middle back and has the potential to spread symptoms towards the upper or lower extremities.
Can bone spurs be removed without surgery?
Most people won't need surgery for bone spurs. In fact, 90% of patients feel better without an operation. But, if your pain persists for a year, or if your bones purs are tied to plantar fasciitis, you may choose surgery.
How do you get rid of bone spurs in your spine?
How are bone spurs treated?Steroid shots to help reduce joint swelling and pain. ... NSAIDS to reduce swelling, relieve pain and relax muscles for four to six weeks.Physical therapy and manipulation of joints to restore flexibility and strength, improve posture and reducing the pressure on the nerves.Rest.
What are the symptoms of bone spurs on the spine?
Symptoms of Bone SpursPain in the affected joint.Pain or stiffness when you try to bend or move the affected joint.Weakness, numbness, or tingling in your arms or legs if the bone spur presses on nerves in your spine.Muscle spasms, cramps, or weakness.Bumps under your skin, seen mainly in the hands and fingers.More items...•Sep 22, 2020
How serious are bone spurs on the spine?
On your vertebrae, bone spurs can narrow the space that contains your spinal cord. These bone spurs can pinch the spinal cord or its nerve roots and can cause weakness or numbness in your arms or legs. Hip. Bone spurs can make it painful to move your hip, although you might feel the pain in your knee.Feb 22, 2022
Are bone spurs on the spine painful?
While spinal bone spurs may not be painful, they can put extra pressure on surrounding nerves, muscles and ligaments, resulting in uncomfortable symptoms. Spinal bone spurs usually generate symptoms from the affected area in the cervical, thoracic or lumbar spine region.
Do bone spurs get worse over time?
Over time, a bone spur may continue to grow, leading to painful irritation of surrounding soft tissue like tendons, ligaments or nerves. Bone spurs tend to be most painful at the bottom of the heel due to the pressure of body weight.Sep 15, 2017
Can spinal bone spurs cause paralysis?
Sudden severe injury to the neck may also contribute to disc herniation, whiplash , blood vessel destruction, vertebral bone or ligament injury and, in extreme cases, permanent paralysis. Herniated discs or bone spurs may cause a narrowing of the spinal canal or the small openings through which spinal nerve roots exit.
When do bone spurs require surgery?
In some cases, surgery is necessary. In some cases, bone spurs that are directly pressing on nerves cause significant pain, weakness and loss of movement. If pain and symptoms can't be treated with conservative treatment options, then surgery may be necessary.
What are causes and risk factors for bone spurs?
A bone spur is a smooth, bony growth that forms over a long period of time. Many bone spurs—or osteophytes, as they’re formally known—cause no symp...
What are symptoms of bone spurs?
You might not realize you have a bone spur until you get an X-ray to look for another condition. They only cause problems when they press on nerves...
How are bone spurs diagnosed?
During the physical exam, your doctor might feel around your joint to pinpoint your pain. Your doctor might also order X-rays or other imaging test...
How to remove bone spurs?
If you’ve been diagnosed with bone spurs, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll need to undergo surgery to remove them. Odds are you’ll begin with some conservative treatments, and progress to surgery if those methods fail. Here’s a look at some treatment options: 1 Anti-Inflammatory Medications – Bone spurs can cause inflammation, so while anti-inflammatories don’t do much to treat the root cause, they can help provide relief from bone spurs. 2 Physical Therapy/Exercise – Physical therapy and exercise work by increasing flexibility and strength in the area to protect against further bone spur development and to free nerves that may be irritated by the spurs. 3 Epidural Steroid Injections – These injections are helpful because they work to reduce swelling and inflammation in the lumbar spine, leading to decreased pain levels. 4 Laminectomy – This surgical operation will permanently remove the spurs and alleviate any nerve compression. This procedure has a high success rate, but is typically only pursued if conservative options don’t provide relief.
What are the symptoms of bone spurs?
Weakness in the arms or legs. Shooting pain with movement. Loss of range of motion in the lower spine. Bladder or bowel incontinence. Although these are the common symptoms associated with bone spur development, the symptoms are similar to other spinal conditions, like a pinched nerve, arthritis, bulging discs or nerve problems, ...
Why do bone spurs develop?
The lumbar spine is a common place for bone spurs to develop because the discs in your lower spine act as stress absorbers, and they eventually start to wear down ...
Can lumbar bone spurs be felled?
Lumbar bone spurs are more common in older populations, but that doesn’t mean younger people can’t be felled by the condition. Here are some symptoms that may signal you’re suffering from bone spurs in your lumbar spine: Regionalized pain. Weakness in the arms or legs. Shooting pain with movement.
Diagnosis
During the physical exam, your doctor might feel around your joint to pinpoint your pain. Your doctor might also order X-rays or other imaging tests to view your joints and bones.
Treatment
If your bone spurs cause pain, your doctor might recommend over-the-counter pain relievers, such as acetaminophen (Tylenol, others), ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others) or naproxen sodium (Aleve, others).
Preparing for your appointment
You'll likely first see your family doctor, who might refer you to a doctor who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of joint disorders (rheumatologist).
How to treat a bone spur in the back?
Spinal bone spur treatment usually involves anti-inflammatory medication, rest, activity modification, exercises to strengthen core muscles that provide support for our back. If needed, physical therapy will be added to the treatment plan.
What is a spinal bone spur?
Spinal Bone Spurs. A spinal bone spur is a bone growth that has been formed as the body has tried to heal another problem . While not all spinal bone spurs will become problematic, when they do, the pain and other symptoms can become quite intense at times. A spinal bone spur can develop anywhere along the spine, ...
Why do I have bone spurs?
Joint damage from osteoarthritis is the most common cause of bone spurs. As osteoarthritis breaks down the cartilage cushioning the ends of your bones, your body attempts to repair the loss by creating bone spurs near the damaged area. In general, the risk of bone spurs is higher in people who have arthritis.
What causes bone spurs?
A variety of factors, usually age-related, can contribute to bone spurs. Heredity, trauma caused by sports or accident-related injuries, nutrition, poor posture and structural problems that patients are born with can put people at risk of developing spinal bone spurs.
Where do bone spurs grow?
Also called osteophytes, bone spurs can grow anywhere throughout the body but are most often found in spinal structures . Spinal bone spurs typically grow along the edge of facet joints where vertebrae meet each other or on the bones of the spine.
Can bone spurs be removed?
While some patients benefit from conservative treatment methods, if the bone spur is pressing on a nerve or interfering with your normal ability to function, spinal bone spur removal surgery may be necessary.
Can bone spurs hurt?
Although the bony projections themselves are not painful, they can affect nearby tissue and nerves leading to painful symptoms, especially when located on the spine. Treatment of spinal bone spurs is available at Desert Institute for Spine Care in Arizona. Our spinal specialists can help you find relief from painful symptoms ...
How to tell if you have bone spurs?
Specific symptoms depend on where the bone spurs are. Examples include: 1 Knee. Bone spurs in your knee can make it painful to extend and bend your leg. 2 Spine. On your vertebrae, bone spurs can narrow the space that contains your spinal cord. These bone spurs can pinch the spinal cord or its nerve roots and can cause weakness or numbness in your arms or legs. 3 Hip. Bone spurs can make it painful to move your hip, although you might feel the pain in your knee. Depending on their placement, bone spurs can reduce the range of motion in your hip joint.
Where do bone spurs form?
Bone spurs (osteophytes) often form where bones meet each other — in your joints. They can also form on the bones of your spine.
Can bone spurs cause herniated discs?
Bone spurs on spine. As your spine ages, it's more likely to experience bone spurs or herniated disks. These problems can reduce the amount of space available for your spinal cord and the nerves that branch off it. Most bone spurs cause no signs or symptoms.
Can bone spurs go undetected?
Most bone spurs cause no symptoms and can go undetected for years. They might not require treatment. If treatment is needed, it depends on where spurs are located and how they affect your health.
What causes bone spurs in the back?
Often a condition affecting people over the age of 60, bone spurs have a number of potential reasons for occurring: 1 Disc degeneration, a natural condition that occurs in most people as they age. This on-going phenomenon happens when discs in the spine wear down and start to rub together, potentially forming bone spurs 2 Suffering from a major traumatic injury might cause bone spurs if the injury has accelerated the degeneration of a patient’s spine, potentially causing friction and bone spurs, though this cause is less likely to occur 3 Spinal osteoarthritis is the wearing down of cartilage between joints, leaving no cushion between the bone to bone contact in the spine. This can cause high levels of contact and friction between bones 4 Unfortunately, aging is a potential source of bone spurs. As we age, our connective tissues tighten and can pull bones out of alignment. This leads to a potential situation where bones are meeting without any padding and grind together.
How to help a stiff spine?
Corticosteroid injections in the spine can alleviate pain and pressure. Physical therapy and exercise will help with movement and reduce stiffness and pain. Physical therapists may also be able to employ special techniques such as heat application to provide additional relief.
Is conservative approach to symptom management enough?
Often times, a conservative approach to symptoms will be enough. It is not clear which method will be best for every patient, but trial and error may lead you to the right approach to symptom management:
Can aging cause bone spurs?
Unfortunately, aging is a potential source of bone spurs. As we age, our connective tissues tighten and can pull bones out of alignment. This leads to a potential situation where bones are meeting without any padding and grind together.
Can nerve pain be severe?
When that happens, nerve pain can range from mild to severe and should be evaluated by a doctor, says Dr. Liu, who is fellowship-trained in minimally invasive spine surgery.
Can bone spurs be removed?
Bone spurs can develop in several parts of the body, but when they grow on the spine and cause severe symptoms, removing them is an option. Luckily, the recovery time from this surgical procedure usually proceeds quickly and smoothly, according to Endoscopic Spine Surgeon Dr. Kaixuan Liu.
Where are bone spurs located?
Some bone spurs are located in a spot along cervical vertebrae that’s close to the neck muscles responsible for rotation, lateral flexion, or hyperextension. The resulting muscle irritation may produce muscle spasms or cramping.
How to tell if you have a bone spur in your neck?
It’s possible to have a bone spur in your neck that causes little or no discomfort. If this isn’t the case, you may notice an aching or dull pain in your neck that becomes more prominent with certain neck, head, or shoulder movements. Some bone spurs are located in a spot along cervical vertebrae that’s close to the neck muscles responsible for rotation, lateral flexion, or hyperextension. The resulting muscle irritation may produce muscle spasms or cramping. Some other signs and symptoms that may suggest you have cervical bone spurs include:
What is the number to call for spine surgery?
Call our friendly staff today at 310-828-7757 to schedule an appointment.
Why does my neck hurt?
Neck pain may be due to one or more various causes, including cervical bone spurs. If you recognize any of the symptoms listed above or your neck pain is severe or prolonged, make sure to schedule a consultation with a Beverly Hills spine surgeon right away. The experienced spine specialists at The Spine Institute can diagnose your pain ...
