Friday, May 15, 2009

Bone Spur Cures

Bone Spur Cures


Bone spurs (osteophytes) are bony projections that develop along the edges of the bone. They are created by calcium deposits, and most bone spurs go undetected. Nonetheless, some bone spurs rub against nerves, tissue and bones, causing chronic pain and limiting a person's range of motion. Bone spurs can occur in anyone, but usually affect those ages 60 and older. However, curing this condition is possible and can be achieved in a number of ways.


Medications


The Mayo Clinic reports that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are commonly used in the pharmaceutical treatment of bone spurs. Most minor cases of bone spurs can be cured with a combination of NSAIDs and muscle relaxants prescribed by a physician. Many times this is enough to effectively reduce the inflammation and return things to normal.


Injections








Cortisone injections are a favorable way to treat and even cure bone spurs. The website spine-health.com reports that cortisone injections offer a therapeutic value in bone spurs that affect the spine or cause radiating pain. The injections are given around the site of the bone spur, and it may be necessary to provide additional injections to make the person completely well.


Physical Therapy


Sometimes a patient can find relief from painful bone spurs through physical therapy. Therapy is more commonly done on patients who suffer from bone spurs on their spines because this population responds best to this type of treatment. Spine-health.com reports that therapy is rendered by trying to restore strength and flexibility to the neck and back.


Surgery


In some cases, when no other methods work and the patient is having limitations, surgery is necessary to cure the bone spur. The surgery can be invasive and require the surgeon to open up the skin around the bone spur site to remove the bone spur. However, a much less invasive method can be done arthroscopically, which normally requires less time to heal afterwards. Surgical removal of bone spurs is the ideal method for patients with significant pain.


Herbal Remedies


Curcumin is one type of herbal remedy that has been shown to be effective on bone spurs. Taking about 500 to 1000 mg of this supplement has been shown to be as useful as cortisone in alleviating bone spurs. For very mild cases of bone spurs using hot compresses made up of a heating pad and a cloth dipped in warm linseed oil has also been found to be helpful. Finally, one of the best herbal remedies is to use DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide), which is colorless and slightly oily liquid and rub it on the skin where the bone spur is. Evitamins.com reports that evidence suggests DMSO has therapeutic properties and is beneficial in reducing pain.

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