Bone spurs on the spine are common with arthritis and disc degeneration, but treatment depends on whether they’re narrowing space for nearby nerves and driving your symptoms.
You bend to load the dishwasher and feel a sharp catch in your low back. Or you turn your head while driving and notice a bolt of neck pain that wasn’t there a month ago. Sometimes it’s not just pain—there’s tingling in a hand, a burning sensation down a leg, or a sense that your back “locks up” after sitting.
When symptoms like these show up, imaging sometimes reveals an unexpected finding: bone spurs on the spine. Yes, you can get bone spurs in your neck or back. In many cases they’re simply a sign of age-related change, but in others they contribute to nerve irritation or narrowing around the spinal canal. Understanding the difference is the key to choosing the right next step.
Bone spurs—also called osteophytes—are small bony overgrowths that develop where the body has been dealing with repeated stress, inflammation, or joint wear. They can form in many joints (like the knee or shoulder), and the spine is a common place to see them because it is constantly bearing load and moving.
In the spine, bone spurs usually form along the edges of the vertebrae or around the facet joints (the small joints in the back of the spine that help guide motion). They are often the body’s attempt to “reinforce” an area that has become arthritic or less stable over time.
A bone spur is not automatically a problem. Many people have spurs that never cause symptoms and are found incidentally on X-ray or MRI. Symptoms tend to occur when the spur reduces space for a nerve root (where nerves exit the spine) or contributes to narrowing of the spinal canal.
Most spinal bone spurs develop gradually as part of degenerative change. The common theme is that the spine segment is experiencing abnormal stress, and the body responds by laying down extra bone.
Common causes and contributors include:
Over time, spurs can become part of a larger “crowding” issue—especially when combined with thickened ligaments, disc bulges, or joint enlargement. That crowding can contribute to spinal stenosis, which is one reason your symptoms may change with standing and walking.
By themselves, bone spurs often do not hurt. Symptoms usually come from what the spur is touching or compressing—especially nerves.
Signs that may be related to a spinal bone spur (or the degenerative changes associated with it) include:
Because these symptoms can also come from a herniated disc, arthritis without a spur, or other conditions, the real question is not “Do I have a bone spur?” but “Is the spur (or the overall narrowing) the reason I feel this way?”
Diagnosis starts with your story and a physical exam. A spine specialist will typically evaluate posture and alignment, range of motion, strength, sensation, reflexes, and whether certain positions reproduce symptoms.
Imaging helps confirm anatomy and identify nerve crowding:
Equally important is connecting imaging to symptoms. Many adults have age-related findings that look dramatic on a report but don’t match where pain travels or what the exam shows. A careful evaluation helps avoid treating an incidental spur while missing the real pain generator.
Treatment depends on what the spur is doing—if anything—and what else is happening at that spinal level (arthritis, disc degeneration, or stenosis). For most patients, the first step is non-surgical care aimed at calming irritation and improving mechanics.
Conservative treatment is often effective, especially when symptoms are mild to moderate and there is no progressive neurologic deficit. A plan may include:
If arthritis or disc degeneration is the larger driver behind spur formation, it can be helpful to understand those conditions directly. See osteoarthritis treatment and degenerative disc disease treatment for deeper explanations of what causes symptoms and which therapies tend to help.
Surgery is not the default for spinal bone spurs. It may be discussed when:
When surgery is appropriate, the goal is typically to relieve pressure on the nerve or spinal cord and address the structural cause of narrowing. For selected patients, that can often be done with minimally invasive spine surgery, which is designed to limit disruption to surrounding muscles and tissues while targeting the area that is compressing the nerve.
Your surgeon should also explain the “why” behind the spur. If a segment is unstable or severely arthritic, simply shaving bone may not solve the broader mechanical problem.
Consider an evaluation if back or neck symptoms are interfering with walking, sleeping, driving, or work—or if pain is repeatedly pushing you to avoid normal daily activities.
Seek prompt medical attention if you develop:
If you already have imaging showing a “bone spur,” but your symptoms don’t seem to match what the report suggests, a specialist can help reconcile the scan with your exam and clarify whether the spur is incidental or clinically meaningful.
Bone spurs on the spine are common, but persistent pain, radiating symptoms, or loss of function deserves a clear explanation and a plan you can trust. At Yashar Neurosurgery, Parham Yashar, MD, focuses on identifying what is actually driving your symptoms—whether that is a spur causing nerve crowding, arthritis-related inflammation, stenosis, or another spine condition—and then matching treatment to your goals and anatomy.
If you are looking for the best minimally invasive spine surgeon in Los Angeles for a thorough evaluation and thoughtful options—ranging from conservative care to advanced surgical solutions within spine surgery—call (424) 209-2669 or request a consultation at Yashar Neurosurgery in Los Angeles.
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