Do you have joint pain in your hip, shoulder, knee, elbow or ankle? Is this pain present when the joint is in motion and at rest? Does this joint feel warm, look red and hurt when you press on it? And is joint stiffness an issue as well? If so, these are all symptoms indicative of bursitis.
Bursitis simply means that a bursa is irritated and inflamed in your painful joint. Bursa are small fluid filled sacs that protect and cushion your joints. And this painful condition occurs more readily with aging.
Often, bursitis treatment can done without a doctor’s visit. Yet, before you can remedy symptoms yourself, you’ll need to determine the possible cause because treating your pain frequently requires you to stop doing some activity. As such, this health blurb offers information that can help you toward a viable course of self treatment.
The treatment remedy for bursitis starts with avoiding any activity that may have caused the initial pain and then worsens your symptoms. Bursitis is commonly caused by repetitive movement, a direct blow or leaning your joint on a hard surface for extensive periods.
Although you have in excess of 150 bursae in your body, with many joints containing more than one, complaints of bursitis pain typically stem from the hip, shoulder, knee, elbow and ankle joints. Because part of your treatment plan depends on which joint is causing you pain, the following are some pertinent highlights to consider about each of these joints.
Hip Bursitis
The joint pain of hip bursitis is often sharp, intense and can radiate outwards. Symptoms may worsen at night. Some of the various causes associated with it are:
- hip surgery
- one leg longer than the other
- spine problems ~ scoliosis, lumbar arthritis
- hip trauma ~ fall, bump, lying on for extended period
- repetitive stress ~ running, stair climbing, bicycling, standing for long time
Shoulder Bursitis
Bursitis in the shoulder is frequently caused by friction. This results in bursa thickening, which causes even more friction. Eventually, your shoulder’s ball and socket gliding movement gets rough, reducing its otherwise extensive range of motion. Bursitis caused shoulder joint pain is commonly due to repetitive use of its entire range of motion, like with throwing, swinging and swimming.
Knee Bursitis
Long periods of kneeling is a prime reason for the bursa under your kneecap to become aggravated. Bursitis caused joint pain also results from repeated direct falls or blows to the knee. For some, regular running can promote pain and inflammation in a bursa on the inner lower side of the knee.
Elbow Bursitis
Because the elbow is involved in numerous activities, elbow bursitis is one of the most common types of bursitis. And repeating motions like throwing a ball and swinging a tennis racket or gulf club give rise to this joint’s pain symptoms.
Ankle Bursitis
Forceful repetition in action, as with running, jumping or even intensely walking, is a prevalent genesis for ankle bursitis. And wearing inappropriately designed shoes for the activity boosts the likelihood of this type of ankle pain.
Usually, you can remedy bursitis yourself when the joint pain is caused by injury, repetitive stress and direct pressure. First, start by stop doing whatever activity that brought you here. Immobilize the joint to give it a rest and elevate to drain swelling. Use ice if your joint feels warm to the touch and heat therapy once it subsides. Compliment this treatment with NSAIDs and local anesthetic to further reduce your pain and swelling.
Sometimes, this combination remedy for relief fails and bursitis evolves into chronic pain. Time to pay a visit to your health care provider for other treatment possibilities, such as physical therapy, cortisone shot or drainage. Should these fall short, then bursa removal is a rarely required treatment remedy.
Repetitive stress, injury and direct pressure are not the only explanations for bursitis. Certain health conditions can have a painful affect on bursa, for instance:
- gout
- lupus
- uremia
- arthritis
- diabetes
- bone spurs
- pancreatitis
- scleroderma
- osteoarthritis
- thyroid disease
- Whipple disease
- calcium deposits
- infectious arthritis
- rheumatoid arthritis
Treatment for bursitis associated with these differs accordingly with the condition.
Finally, a rule of thumb for you to distinguish between bursitis and tendinitis is if your pain is inside the joint it’s bursitis, symptoms just outside a joint is tendinitis. And a simultaneous occurrence of them is not unusual.
