Lumbar spine osteophytes are the manifestation of the degenerative aging process that begins in the human lumbar spine. The degree of lumbar osteophytes – generally light, most of them also do not cause back pain, according to statistics, only 1% of people with back pain before the age of 20, 35-39 years old increased to 10%, and then increased by 1% every 5 years, to 60-64 years old the incidence of lumbar pain is 15%, but after 65 years old, only 3% of lumbar pain. In fact, lumbar spine osteophytes are more pronounced at this age, while lumbar pain is reduced, indicating that the pain is not always caused by bone spurs. Does severe lumbar spine osteophytes necessarily mean that you have low back pain? Not necessarily. Many athletes with significant lumbar spine hyperplasia not only do not have back pain, but also can create excellent results on the playing field, because the vertebral osteophytes just like a few claws, which increases the stability of the vertebral body and helps prevent disc herniation. What are the main lesions caused by lumbar spine osteophytes? 1, lumbar spine stiffness: lumbar spine bone spurs can grow in the front and rear part of the upper and lower edges of the vertebral body as well as the synovial joints, the lumbar spine bone spurs gradually increase in size under repeated stimulation, which can reduce the mobility between the vertebrae or even stiffness, which can lead to a compensatory increase in mobility between the adjacent vertebrae but aggravate the degeneration of their intervertebral discs and intervertebral joints. 2, lumbar intervertebral disc degeneration, spinal space narrowing, etc.: so , over time, the further action of strain factors, the entire lumbar spine can appear extensive disc bulging or protrusion, narrowing of the intervertebral space, the formation of bone spurs at the vertebral body edge, hypertrophy of joint synapses, hypertrophy of the yellow ligament, instability between vertebrae and other manifestations. 3, lumbar nerve compression: the bone spur at the posterior edge of the lumbar vertebrae, together with the fibrous ring of the bulging disc, the posterior longitudinal ligament and the edema or fibrotic tissue caused by the reaction to trauma, form a mixture of posterior or lateral-posterior protrusion in the segmental plane of the disc, which, combined with the posterior hypertrophic ligamentum flavum, can form a direct stimulation and compression of the local lumbar nerve root. 4, lumbar spinal stenosis: in the lumbar spine, bone spurs at the anterior edge of the vertebral body generally do not easily lead to any symptoms either; bone spurs in the articular eminence joint, combined with hypertrophy of the yellow ligament, disc protrusion, and instability between the vertebrae can lead to symptoms of lumbar spinal stenosis, and in severe cases, even degenerative slippage of the lumbar spine can occur.