Drugs for osteophytes have always been the main protagonists of medical advertisements, whether on TV or in the newspapers, there are often advertisements for drugs that “specialize in treating osteophytes” and “quickly eliminate bone spurs”. But is it really possible to eliminate bone spurs that have grown? Let’s take a look at what is going on with osteophytes. The term “osteophytes” is synonymous with a comprehensive response to osteophytes, also known as age-related arthritis, osteoarthritis, degenerative osteoarthropathy and so on. When you get older and use your joints too much, the various tissues that make up your joints (cartilage, subchondral bone, joint capsule, synovium, muscles, ligaments, etc.) will react with age, degeneration, calcification, hyperplasia, inflammation, etc. Osteomalacia is one of these many reactions to change. For historical reasons, the term “osteophyte” has become synonymous with a combination of these reactions. These changes cause irritation or compression of the tissues surrounding the joint, resulting in a range of symptoms such as neck pain, low back pain, limb pain or nerve pain, joint pain, etc. These pains are related to physical movement or activity. Osteophytes can occur in any joint, but most commonly in the lumbar spine, cervical spine, knees and heels. Osteomalacia can also occur at the age of 30. Factors associated with osteomalacia include age, gender, weight, occupation, race and genetic factors. Some athletes may develop osteophytes at the age of 30 because their joints are overused and they age early. An x-ray can tell if osteophytes are present. On x-rays, you can see that the bones that make up the joint are hardening and growing at the edges, forming “bone spurs” at the edges of the bones that make up the joint. CT and MRI are not usually necessary to confirm the presence or absence of osteophytes, but they can be used to check for other problems. It is misleading to say that “medication to remove bone spurs” is a self-protective mechanism to restore a new balance of forces in the joints, which is a physiological phenomenon. When the new mechanical balance of the joint is established, the osteophytes will naturally stop. The hyperplastic bone itself does not require treatment, but patients with clinical symptoms such as joint pain, swelling and joint dysfunction need pain relief or even surgery due to the simultaneous presence of multiple tissue lesions such as cartilage, synovium, muscle and tendon in osteophytes. There are many advertisements boasting that taking medication or applying creams can remove bone spurs, which is pure nonsense. Modern medical research has shown that the structure and composition of the bone growth is the same as that of normal bone, and that if a drug can make a bone spur disappear, it must also make normal bone disappear. There are no effective drugs that can remove bone spurs. ”To quote Steve Jobs, “Remember that you will die eventually”, sooner or later, we will have osteophytes in our joints, because this is a degenerative disease that cannot be cured, but only through maintenance and long-term training to delay the onset and alleviate the symptoms. Symptoms. After the diagnosis is clear, treatment should be targeted to change the source of the triggering factors, pay attention to work and lifestyle, weight control, appropriate exercise, and physical therapy and rehabilitation training under the guidance of a rehabilitator if possible. The wrong approach is to “exercise with pain”. Exercising with pain only increases the local inflammatory response of the joint and accelerates the aging of the joint. Painful exercise can also cause bleeding of the joint capsule or ligaments at the bone attachments, and calcification of the blood can make the enlarged bone spur more serious.