Osteomalacia, commonly known as bone spurs, is a manifestation of the aging of the human skeleton, so it only gradually appears after the age of 40 and gradually increases with age. In fact, the appearance of bone growth is a natural process of the human body, just like the wrinkles that grow on the face when a person grows old. Strictly speaking, it is not a disease. So why do bones proliferate? Briefly, the microscopic mechanism of its development: we humans can stand, walk and jump because our bones play a supporting role, ligaments play a connecting role, and muscles contract to provide energy. The human body has a total of 206 bones, which are connected by the ligaments that provide the connections that make up the scaffolding of the body. The interface between the ligaments and the bones, which are two different tissues in close contact, is very strong. However, there are some skeletal connections in the human body that are more mobile, such as between the cervical vertebrae, between the lumbar vertebrae and between the tibia and femur of the knee joint, and this solid interface is subjected to great stress. We take the connection between the cervical vertebrae as an example, the two adjacent cervical vertebrae are mainly connected by the intervertebral disc, the periphery of the intervertebral disc is a fibrous ring, the fibrous ring is a kind of ligament tissue, tightly pulling the two adjacent cervical vertebrae, every time we turn our heads down on the fibrous ring and vertebrae interface caused stress, over time, the activity between the vertebrae is getting bigger and bigger, but the ligament activity is getting worse and worse, when When the stress caused by excessive activity exceeds the range of the ligament bone interface can withstand, a small tear will occur, a small amount of local bleeding, bleeding mechanization and then ossification, which is a recurring process, slowly in the parts constantly pulled by the ligament will appear osteophytes, and grow larger and larger. In fact, this hyperplasia exists along the edge of the bone and is sometimes called labral hyperplasia, which is commonly referred to as a bone spur because of its sharp edge when projected on an X-ray. In fact, when they first appear, bone spurs are beneficial to the body: they increase the contact area between abnormally active bones and restore tension in the ligaments, in short, to regain stability between bones. However, bone spurs are, by their very nature, an abnormal growth of bones. When this abnormal growth becomes too large and causes harmful irritation to the nerves near the bones or restricts joint movement, it can produce symptoms that can be serious enough to cause deformity and paralysis. Common osteophytes occur in the shoulder joint, spine (especially the lumbar and cervical spine), knee joint, and less commonly in other areas such as the foot, head, and other parts of the body. Let’s take the cervical spine as an example. A cervical spine bone spur that is large enough to cause compression of the adjacent tissues of the cervical spine and produce clinical symptoms is called cervical spondylosis. For example, compression of the spinal cord leading to weakness in the lower limbs and unstable walking is called spinal cord cervical spondylosis; compression of the nerve roots leading to radiating pain and numbness in the shoulders and upper limbs is called neurogenic cervical spondylosis; compression of the vertebral artery leading to dizziness and blackness in front of the eyes is called vertebral artery cervical spondylosis; compression of the sympathetic ganglion leading to eye distension, chest tightness and dizziness is called sympathetic cervical spondylosis. When these symptoms become more and more serious and conservative treatment such as rest, heat, physical therapy and medication are not effective, the bone spurs that compress other tissues and produce symptoms have to be removed surgically, while other bone spurs that do not produce symptoms do not have to be removed and cannot be completely removed. To summarize, only those bone spurs that are compressing other tissues and producing symptoms and for which conservative treatment is ineffective should be surgically removed.