In our daily life, elderly people often feel weakness in their legs when going up and down stairs, and if they do not hurry to hold on to the support with their hands, they seem to involuntarily kneel down. In some cases, the knee joint suddenly cannot be flexed or extended during activities, and after slight activities, there can be a crisp sound, and when we go to the hospital to take a film, the knee joint has a long bone spur. What is going on here? This is osteoarthritis of the knee. Osteoarthritis of the knee occurs in middle-aged and older people over 45 years old, and is more common in women. People who often work in a semi-squatting position are prone to uneven forces on the knee joint, causing damage to the joint surface, which gradually becomes rough and degenerates, leading to the occurrence of bone spurs. When the disease occurs, the knee joint may have persistent vague pain, which intensifies with activity and improves after rest; sometimes there may be acute painful episodes, along with joint stiffness and a popping sound when the joint moves, and the joint stiffness increases after sitting for a long time and improves after a little activity; it is difficult to go up and down stairs or to stand up from a chair. In the late stage, there may be swelling and deformation of the knee joint. Can repeated squatting wear out bone spurs? It is often said that repeated squatting can smooth out bone spurs in the knee joint and cure osteophytes in the knee joint. This is actually a misconception about osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis is caused by the degeneration and aging of the joint cartilage itself, and some inappropriate exercise will instead aggravate the wear and tear of the joint, leading to increased wear and tear of the knee cartilage, which is counterproductive. How do I treat bone spurs in the knee joint? Generally speaking, pain is the earliest indication of a knee lesion. If the pain is mild, it can be treated conservatively. In this case, the patient should rest properly, minimize weight bearing on the joint, avoid large joint movements, hold the handrail on stairs, and use a cane or walking stick when walking. Obese people should reduce their weight to reduce the load on the joint. Patients should pay attention to protect the diseased joints with braces, ensure correct posture and position, avoid strain and trauma, pay attention to weather changes, and avoid humidity and cold. Patients can take oral anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs during the acute phase, local physical therapy and joint and muscle training during the chronic phase, and intra-articular injections of sodium hyaluronate are also possible. If conservative treatment is ineffective, arthroscopic surgery should be considered for those with mild to moderate knee damage. For severe osteoarthritis of the knee, especially in advanced cases, the choice of total knee arthroplasty is indisputable, i.e., grinding away the damaged joint surface and replacing it with a metal surface, which can completely improve the function of the knee joint, relieve pain, correct deformity and improve the quality of life of the patient. What are the instructions for exercising after a bone spur in the knee? There are rules for exercising after a bone spur in the knee. The main principle of exercise is to reduce the stress on the joint, such as avoiding long-term squatting or going up and down stairs as a form of exercise. Proper exercise is good for the protection of the knee joint, while inappropriate exercise will increase the load on the knee joint and aggravate the wear and tear of the joint cartilage. Simply put, you can straighten your leg and do leg lifts to exercise your quadriceps; you can use heel presses to exercise the muscles behind your thighs to increase the strength of the affected knee muscles to enhance knee stability and reduce knee weakness and the phenomenon of weak legs. You can also use swimming and other forms of non-weight-bearing exercise to reduce the wear and tear on the joints and achieve the purpose of strengthening the muscles of the lower limbs.