What Causes Bone Spurs? And Could You Be Creating Some Right Now?
You may have heard of a relative having been diagnosed with a “bone spur” somewhere in their body.
Sometimes a bone spur is found on the heel of the foot. But the most common place for them to be diagnosed is somewhere in the spine, usually either the neck or the lower back.
The patient will be told “you have spinal arthritis”, which of course is very concerning.
But the question is, how did this happen?
I see bone spurs in older people who have been told they are “a normal part of aging”.
But I have a problem with that. If bone spurs form over time, as we age, and are normal, why do some people not get them?
And why do some YOUNG people get them?
And most importantly, how does ONE part of the spine (with a bone spur supposedly caused by aging) get OLDER than other parts of the spine (that have no bone spur)?
Time IS indeed a factor in bone spur formation, but it is NOT the causative factor. What I mean is, you’re never going to see bone spurs in an 8-year-old child because they DO take time to form. But there are other changes that MUST happen first and then be present over TIME for a bone spur to form.
Many people are not aware that bone is a living tissue and is constantly being remodeled every day of your life.
Wolf’s Law states “bone in a healthy animal will adapt to the loads under which it is placed”. Put another way, it states that your body will add MORE bone or will take AWAY bone depending on the stresses you put on it. (As a side note, osteopenia or osteoporosis are caused by a number of factors including hormone levels, nutritional status, smoking, medications, and more and are not part of this discussion on bone health).
As a Chiropractor, what I look for in the spine is areas of poor movement and/or poor alignment.
Vertebrae can lose their normal alignment and movement for a number of reasons.
Many people think only the BIG things like car accidents and serious falls create these misalignments, but small, repetitive stresses (like cradling the phone at work, or sitting at a desk for hours at a time, among other things we all routinely do) can add up over time and may even to that silently. As well, a small shift in alignment and movement that occurred many years ago can fester under the surface and become a BIG thing.
Regardless of how an area of your spine became misaligned, the real concern is that it is now experiencing ABNORMAL forces because of that decreased movement and alignment.
The result, according to Wolf’s law AND thousands of x-rays I’ve seen over the past 30 years is bone remodeling. Specifically, bone spurs.
Often, a New patient will tell me “my lower back has been stiff for 20 years, so I stretch a lot to keep it loose and I see a massage therapist monthly and I do yoga too”. Or they’ll say the same thing about stiff neck and decreased rotation for shoulder checking.
I totally understand why they say these things. For decades, they’ve been told that the PAIN they feel IS the problem and it is the ONLY PROBLEM.
But we know from Wolf’s law and x-rays that there is a problem UNDERLYING the pain and, in many cases, it is misalignment and poor movement that, left uncorrected, can often lead to bone spurs and spinal arthritis.
Here’s the hard part though. How would you know if bone spurs are forming in you until they’re finally diagnosed because they were seen on x-rays?
A thorough examination of your spine’s movement and alignment, which is one of the central pieces of a Chiropractor’s exam, is a good start for shedding light on that question.
As well, your Chiropractor will be able to help you improve, and in some cases, restore full movement and alignment to your spine. That is always going to be a good thing for your health in the long run.
Thank you for being part of our mission.
As always. With love,
Dr. Colin