[1] Exostoses can cause chronic pain ranging from mild to debilitatingly severe, depending on the shape, size, and location of the lesion.

Charcot foot, the neuropathic breakdown of the feet seen primarily in diabetics, can also leave bone spurs that may then become symptomatic.

Osteophytes are bone spurs that develop on the margins of joints secondary to external stimuli such as osteoarthritis.

[3] Evidence for exostosis found in the fossil record is studied by paleopathologists, specialists in ancient disease and injury.

Exostosis has been reported in dinosaur fossils from several species, including Acrocanthosaurus atokensis, Albertosaurus sarcophagus, Allosaurus fragilis, Gorgosaurus libratus, and Poekilopleuron bucklandii.