Chronic osteomyelitis has a long course, and there is a documented case abroad of a patient who relapsed 80 years after acute osteomyelitis was diagnosed as a child. Many of the patients we see also have a disease duration of 40 to 50 years. During this long course of disease there is occasional swelling and pain in the affected limb, fever, and even localized rupture. Most patients improve after antibiotic anti-infection treatment at the local hospital or clinic, and it does not affect limb movement, and they can walk normally. Therefore, many patients do not pay attention to this condition, and even if they have frequent attacks over a period of time, they have no idea of further treatment as long as they can be relieved with medication. 1. A patient with tibial osteomyelitis for 45 years had only a small localized rupture for the past 44 years and did not pay attention to it, but it suddenly became larger in the past 3 months, and the result of pathological biopsy was squamous cell carcinoma. Finally, the limb was amputated. 2. This is a patient who has had tibial osteomyelitis for more than 30 years. Initially, it was only a small localized rupture, and then it gradually increased in size and finally led to a large skin defect rupture. 3. This is a patient who had tibial osteomyelitis for more than 40 years and had repeated localized skin breakdown, which had not been taken seriously and led to the destruction of bone leading to forward deformity of the lower leg. 4, This is an adolescent patient with humeral osteomyelitis who had surgical treatment more than 10 years ago. There were almost no obvious symptoms in 10 years. However, the bone destruction was very serious on the X-ray, which obviously affected the function of the elbow joint, and the position was very prone to pathological fracture. 5. This is a patient with generalized polyosteomyelitis with a disease duration of more than 40 years. From the X-ray, the bone destruction is very serious and has lost the normal form of bone tissue, and the osteomyelitis is occluded, and pathological fracture is very likely to occur. We may find it alarming, but at the beginning of the disease, there are only some minor local symptoms. The common feature of each of these cases is the lack of timely treatment. Osteomyelitis is a relatively rare but exceptionally persistent disease with a long and complex course. In many cases the symptoms of recurrence may be only localized swelling, not even painful, which does not easily attract the attention of patients, even in some primary care hospitals, and cannot be treated in a timely manner. Then some patients may wonder when they should go to the hospital for consultation and treatment and when to do surgery. As a professional group engaged in the treatment of bone infections, we have summarized the lessons learned from four generations of doctors in the Orthopedic Infection Group of Nanjing Military Region General Hospital, and we believe that every six months after the diagnosis of osteomyelitis is confirmed, it is recommended to visit the hospital for follow-up to observe the progress of osteomyelitis. If recurrent swelling, pain, or rupture occurs, it is recommended to visit a specialized hospital immediately, and timely surgery can be extremely helpful for the prognosis of the disease. Some patients may be temporarily controlled with the application of antibiotics, but no fundamental changes are made to the progression of the disease. Many patients start with small ruptures and sinus tracts that are not treated in a timely manner and develop into the picture above. It makes surgical treatment extremely difficult. For the patient, at first it may be manageable with a lesser surgery, but at a later stage, not only does the osteomyelitis need to be treated, but the bigger problem is the reconstruction of the soft tissues. That is a very stressful and burdensome situation for the patient, and for the whole family, with treatment requiring multiple surgeries and exponentially increasing costs. Many patients end up opting for amputation because they cannot afford it. Therefore, we hereby call on all patients to pay attention to the onset of osteomyelitis, to achieve timely diagnosis and timely treatment. Don’t bring endless pain for the later stage for the sake of momentary convenience.