You can have a bone spur and never know it. These smooth growths at the ends of a bone, known in medicine as "osteophytes," only cause pain when they rub or press on nerves, ligaments or other tissues. This happens in 10 to 20 percent of cases, and when it does, you'll know it. Pain from bone spurs can limit your activities and makes keeping up with cardio conditioning a challenge. After the initial treatment of bone spur pain, which involves rest, ice, pain relief and often physical therapy, look to low-impact cardio exercises that avoid stressing the part of your body affected by the bone spur.
The Importance of Warming Up and Stretching
Everyone is advised to warm up before doing cardio, but this is even more vital for people with bone spurs. Five minutes of walking or doing your chosen activity at a low to medium intensity will get your blood circulating, warm up your muscles and lubricate your joints. Follow your cardio session by cooling down and stretching to restore flexibility to muscles and joints. You should also do specific stretch and strengthening exercises that target the affected joint in between your cardio sessions. A personal trainer or physical therapist can show you how to safely exercise with a bone spur.
Shoulder spurs become painful when they cause rotator cuff tendons to rub repeatedly across the bones of the shoulder blade and joint. This causes pain when you lift your arms or engage the shoulder's range of motion. People with shoulder bone spurs can participate in cardio activities that engage the lower body, including walking, stationary or recumbent biking and jogging. Use caution with elliptical or rowing machines to keep the shoulder movement within your range of comfort. Swimming should be avoided until the bone spur pain is completely resolved.
Spinal and Neck Spurs
Spinal bone spurs result from excessive vertebral movement due to degeneration of the disc and cartilage between the vertebrae. The bone spurs, formed in response to the body's efforts to stabilize the vertebrae, become painful when they compress the spinal nerves. If you have spinal bone spurs, you may need physical therapy to develop good posture and strengthen the muscles supporting the spine. People with spinal bone spurs should focus on low-impact cardio activities such as recumbent cycling, which supports the back during exercise, swimming and elliptical training.
Heel Spurs and Plantar Fasciitis
Heel spurs alone are rarely painful, but when the tough ligament or plantar fascia on the sole of the foot becomes tight and inflamed, even simple walking is nearly unbearable. It's essential to treat the pain through icing, rest and stretching. As the pain of plantar fasciitis resolves, you can resume low-impact cardio workouts. Swimming is excellent because the water supports your body and the kicking motions increase circulation in your feet and legs. Elliptical, rowing and recumbent and stationary cycling are also good choices. Walking becomes possible when the pain diminishes, but make sure your walking shoes provide proper support and cushioning to avoid a return of the inflammation.
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