Can anyone tell me what a bone spur is?

I was told this morning Ive got a bad bone spur on my foot and may require surgery down the road, but Im not sure how I got it or what it is exactly.

Answer:

Bone spurs, also known as osteophytes, are bony projections that form along joints. Bone spurs form due to the body's increase of a damaged (usually due to arthritis) joint's surface area in a futile attempt to improve weight distribution. However, they usually limit joint movement and typically cause pain.

Bone spurs form naturally on the spine as a person ages and are a sign of degeneration in the spine. In this case the spurs are not the source of back pains, but instead a common symptom of the problem.

I had one in my shoulder once that made movement very painful. I found that I'd do anything to be relieved of the problem. My Dr had prescribed steroids and I took them orally... they didn't seem to work and the pain continued. The doctor later prescribe Buspur. I didn't know what it was until later. I guess the Dr thought I was getting too impatient. It took about six months and two weeks of steroids for the spur to go away on its own. I'm glad I didn't have to have surgery. The Buspur is still in my cabinet some ten years later. But you need to have a doctor check out the spur, it could be tearing important tissue, or doing other damage. You don't want it to damage the cartilage in a joint or rub a nerve the wrong way

Spurs can also appear on the feet, either along toes or the heel.