A. How did the “bone spur” come about?
Uncle Liu has been suffering from leg pain for almost a month. At first it was pain in both knees, and it was difficult to go upstairs, but he could go out to buy food with the pain. Now even walking is not convenient, can not squat down. He went to the hospital and had an X-ray done, and the doctor said he had mild osteophytes, simply put, “bone spurs. He had long heard of bone spurs from friends, but did not know how to treat them, and what he wanted most was to get rid of them.
Bone spur is a part of the normal bone growth, a considerable number of people will have osteophytes, this is because with the growth of age, bone and joint will gradually degenerate, when the bone and soft tissue in contact with the place due to long-term pressure, tension, injury, resulting in the gradual loss of water and elasticity of the cartilage between the joints, bone and bone wear, the body in order to reduce the pressure between the bone, joint, on the edge of the bone and joint It is essentially a compensatory function of human physiology, a self-protective response of the body to adapt to changes in force.
Figuratively speaking, “bone spurs” are just like our wrinkles, and as we grow older and the cartilage in our joints degrades, “bone spurs” arise. So older people do not have to talk about “bone spurs”.
Second, how can I tell if I have a “bone spur”?
Because of the damage to the joint cartilage, the “bone spur” can strengthen the poorly stabilized bone and joint, thus contributing to the stability of the bone and joint and avoiding further damage. However, the spur may also cause compression of the surrounding nerves and blood vessels, resulting in clinical symptoms, so it is both physiological and pathological. It is important to look at both sides of the coin and not to blame all the clinical symptoms on the bone spur.
Clinical practice also proves that the presence of bone spurs in the human body does not always lead to clinical symptoms. Moreover, the size and number of bone spurs are not proportional to the severity of the patient’s symptoms, so there is no need to doubt that you have a bone spur or to be alarmed by its presence.
It is very easy to determine whether you have a bone spur or not. An ordinary X-ray film can show whether you have a bone spur or not.
Third, what should I do if I have a bone spur?
Bone spurs are not a disease, and there is no such thing as a “bone spur” in Western medical textbooks. Usually these spurs are not the main cause of the symptoms, or it is useless to treat them because they will grow again after they are removed. Therefore, bone spurs do not need to be treated, but the original cause of the spur – osteoarthritis – should be treated. Qin Jian suggests that patients with bone spurs should see a specialist in joint surgery and stop thinking about what drugs to use to eliminate them.
At present, most of the “bone spurs” are treated by the following conservative methods –
1. Exercise.
Moderate physical exercise can improve the function of the joint, such as walking, cycling or swimming, which can improve the patient’s cardiopulmonary function and sugar and fat metabolism, and enhance endurance and physical fitness. The pain is more serious patients, the beginning can only muscle contraction without moving the joints, and it is best to exercise in the water, because the body weight in the water only reaches 1/8 of the land weight. gradually, gradually increase the amplitude of the action, first choose the form of non-weight-bearing, and then do weight-bearing exercise after the basic disappearance of pain. During this period do not do climbing, climbing, squatting and tai chi, dance and other activities.
2. Reduce body weight.
Excessive weight will accelerate the wear and tear of joint cartilage, so that the uneven pressure on the cartilage surface of the joint, resulting in osteophytes. Therefore, if you are overweight, it is best to reduce your weight to reduce the formation of osteophytes.
3.Medication.
There are many causes of joint pain, but most of the causes are not inflammation or only mild inflammation, which can be treated with analgesics in most cases. If the response to analgesic treatment is not good, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs can be used, especially when the joint has inflammatory manifestations, such as prolonged stiffness, swelling, local fever.
4.Chondroprotective drugs.
At present, there are mainly two kinds of drugs, namely chondroitin sulfate and glucosamine sulfate, which are mainly used to improve the structure of joints and thus improve the symptoms of patients with osteoarthrosis.
5.Joint replacement.
If there is deformity of the joint and pain that cannot be relieved by medication, it can be completely solved by knee joint replacement. Osteoarthritis is a curable disease, but it just has to be dealt with in several stages.