Basics of Bursitis and Its Symptoms and Prevention

Basics of Bursitis

What is Bursitis?

The inflammation of bursa mainly causes bursitis. Bursa, a sac filled with fluid helps reduce friction between bones, tendons, muscles, and skin.

Reasons for Bursitis

There are several reasons which can cause bursitis.

  • The repetitive motion of the muscle.
  • A minor injury or impact to the elbow or related area.
  • Sometimes an acute injury can cause bursitis.
  • The increase in age also adds to the risk of patients having bursitis.
  • Some of the typical Professions or physical activities commonly associated with bursitis include skiing, painting, shoveling, scrubbing, tennis, and throwing.
  • The incorrect human body posture at the workplace can also cause bursitis.

Typical Age of Patients Suffering from Bursitis

Bursitis most commonly impacts the adults.

Body Parts Impacted by Bursitis

The body parts usually get affected by bursitis include Achilles tendon, knee, hip, shoulder, and elbow.

Symptoms Associated with Bursitis

Pain is the most usual symptom of bursitis. This pain may build up slowly or suddenly. Calcium deposits may also cause bursitis. The loss of motion in the shoulder area may also signal a patient suffering from bursitis. Frozen shoulder is sometimes considered a reason for having bursitis.

How to Prevent Bursitis?

Here are some tips for us as adults to avoid bursitis.

  • The first tip given to the patient is to maintain an active lifestyle, involving daily exercise.
  • Also get regularly check up with your doctor in case you have any symptoms signaling towards bursitis.
  • Avoid doing physical activities which lead to bursitis, and contact your physician to sort out the problem.

Treatment for Bursitis

Some of the treatments for bursitis include the following.

  • To apply icing on the injured area affected by bursitis.
  • To avoid doing the physical activities resulting in bursitis.
  • To rest the area injured because of the problem.
  • The patient may be advised by orthopedic doctor to take anti-inflammatory medications.

Precautions & Treatment

If after taking all the precautions mentioned above, you do not feel better in a week’s time, you need to get in touch with your doctor immediately.

Your doctor is the best person to advise you the right type of medicine to take based on an assessment of your medical and health conditions. There are different treatment options available to an orthopedic surgeon including administering medicine through injections, use of steroids, physical therapy, and eventually surgery if nothing else works out for you.