You would be surprised the number of bursae we have within our bodies. Bursae are little sacs containing liquid which help lubricate muscles and tendons as they glide across one another. They can become very painful when irritated.

>> Quick link to shortlist of natural effective remedies for painful bursitis

You have 8 bursae around each shoulder, 11 around each knee and as many as 78 on each side of your body. Most of them haven’t been given a name and I suppose as long as they’re doing what they’re designed to do, no one is that interested. But if one little bursae sac becomes injured or inflamed, you suddenly find out just how valuable they are – because your injured bursae are now bearing witness to just how painful bursitis can be.

Bursitis can affect you quite unexpectedly. It can be acute or chronic, depending on the cause. Acute bursitis will attack, retreat, then attack again. It doesn’t let you sleep, grabs you when you least expect it and is most frustrating for those trying to find what treatment works best.

Trochanteric bursitis is when the trochanter hipbone bursa on its outer side becomes inflamed

Bursitis causes, symptoms and treatment

The recognition and attention given by the medical profession to it’s “big brother” arthritis, leaves bursitis feeling a little left out. So until science becomes a little more focused on this affliction, there are some dependable ways of bringing temporary respite to this painful problem.

Bursitis discomfort usually affects the joints – that’s why it’s often confused with arthritis. One of the first things you should do immediately for bursitis inflammation, is to stop the activities that are giving you the problem and rest the joint. It’s foolish to try and push through the it as this will only make matters worse.

The next thing you want to do is place a cold pack or some ice on the affected area. First ascertain whether the joint is hot to touch. If it is, ice will be appropriate. It needs to be applied for about ten minutes, then rest, then do the same again a few more times. It’s important not to apply heat if the joint is already hot to touch. Use something cold.

After you’ve been doing this for a while, the heat should go from the inflammation. Then you can alternate between cold and hot treatments. Try ten minutes of cold, then ten minutes of heat, then ice … and so on.

The next thing in your arsenal is some anti-inflammatory medication. Some prefer aspirin, but you need to be aware of complications associated with the blood thinning properties of this drug. There are some effective herbal anti-inflammatories available which are specifically formulated for bursitis. You could go on a special  anti-inflammatory diet

Once the acute stage of your bursitis starts to subside, hopefully after about four to five days, it’s time to alter your therapy. Instead of resting the joint, you now want to exercise it gently. You also want to give away the cold packs and introduce some heat.

If the bursitis discomfort  is in your elbow, you should try and swing your arm freely to relieve the ache. Only do it for a couple of minutes, but try it a number of times during the day.

If you have bursitis in your shoulder, try an exercise called the “cat stretch”. You get down on your hands and knees with your hands on the floor slightly in front of your head. Keep your shoulders stiff as you stretch backward until your bottom touches your knees.

In the end, the best healer, is time.

M.P Lawrence is the director of popular blog TreatBursitisOnline.Com. He is an expert on bursitis and his blog contains stacks of information on bursitis, bursitis pain, and much more! Check out his blog today!

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Are you familiar with the term ‘bursae’? It refers to the many little sacs containing liquid that are distributed throughout the body, which help to lubricate muscles and tendons as they move across one another.This is where the term ‘bursitis’ originates.

>> Quick link to shortlist of natural remedies for painful bursitis

Bursitis is the painful inflammation or irritation of the bursa

The bursa is a soft, tiny, fluid-filled sac that covers and cushions the movement between the bones, tendons and muscles near the joints. There are 160 bursae in the body. The major bursae are located adjacent to the tendons near the large joints, such as the shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees.

Healthy bursae create a smooth, almost frictionless functional gliding surface making normal movement painless. When bursitis occurs, however, movement relying upon the inflamed bursa becomes difficult and painful. Additionally, movement of tendons and muscles over the inflamed bursa aggravates its inflammation, perpetuating the problem.

Bursitis usually occurs under the shoulder muscles, at the elbows (called epitrochlear bursitis or “tennis elbow”), the hip sockets (called trochanteric bursitis), heel bones (called retrocalcaneal bursitis) or the kneecaps (called infrapatellar bursitis or “housemaid’s knee”). It can also occur in the buttocks (called ischiogluteal bursitis) or the thigh (called trochanteric bursitis).

Causes of Bursitis

Elbows and knees are the most commonly affected area of the body. Inflammation of the bursae can also cause other inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis. On occasions, scoliosis can cause bursitis of the shoulders. Shoulder bursitis is generally caused by overuse of the shoulder joint and related muscles.

Traumatic injury is another cause of bursitis. The inflammation irritates because the bursa no longer fits in the original small area between the bone and the functionary muscle or tendon. When the bone increases pressure upon the bursa, bursitis results.

Symptoms of Bursitis

Bursitis can be either acute, sudden or sharp following an injury, or alternatively a chronic, recurrent inflammation in the same area.

Bursitis symptoms vary from acute local joint ache and stiffness, to burning pain that surrounds the joint around the inflamed bursa. Painful Bursitis is usually worse during and after activity, and then the bursa and the surrounding joint become stiff the next day in the morning.

When a joint is overused or when it stays under pressure or tension for extended periods of time, nearby bursa can become inflamed. The bursa fills with excess fluid, causing pressure on the surrounding tissue and resulting in bursitis.

The most common examples of Bursitis

* Prepatellar bursitis, commonly know as housemaid’s knee * Infrapatellar bursitis, commonly called clergyman’s knee * Trochanteric bursitis * Olecranon bursitis characterised by painful swelling in the elbow * Subacromial bursitis which gives painful shoulder symptoms

Diagnosis of Bursitis

Bursitis is commonly identified by localized swelling, tenderness, and pain with motion of the tissues in the affected area. X-ray testing can sometime detect calcifications in the bursa when bursitis has been chronic or recurrent.

Why bursa become inflamed?

A bursa can become inflamed from injury, infection (less common in the shoulder), or due to an underlying rheumatic condition. Examples of bursitis include injury as subtle as lifting a bag of groceries into the car inflaming shoulder bursitis, infection of the bursa in front of the knee from a knee scraping on asphalt known as septic prepatellar bursitis, and inflammation of the elbow bursa from gout crystals causing gouty olecranon bursitis.

>> Quick link to shortlist of natural remedies for bursitis

Treatment of Bursitis

Treatment  depends on whether or not it involves infection. If it is not infected (from injury or underlying rheumatic disease) it can be treated with ice compresses, rest, and anti-inflammatory medication and pain relief medication.

Occasionally, itrequires aspiration of the bursa fluid. This procedure involves removal of the fluid with a sterile needle and syringe.

Non-infectious bursitis can also be treated with a cortisone injection into the swollen bursa. This is sometimes done at the same time as the aspiration procedure and typically rapidly reduces the inflammation of the swollen bursa.

When it becomes infected, or septic, it requires even assessment by your doctor and aggressive treatment. The fluid can be examined in the laboratory to identify the microbes causing the infection.

Rehabilitation Exercises

The rehabilitative exercises known as Pilates are actually great for people with such injuries, particularly in areas such as the knee, neck or shoulders because it can be undertaken without straining the affected area. It is also good for weak muscles and particularly bad posture because it encourages you to strengthen your problem areas in a relaxed and low impact way. Of course, it is advisable that anyone with serious injuries consults their doctor or physio first.

>> Quick link to recommended shortlist of remedies

Author Fiona Eakin has been a Pilates instructor for over 10 years. Fiona has specific Pilates exercise programs to help relieve your knee pain or neck and shoulder pain.

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There are several potential causes of Greater Trochanteric Bursitis, including chronic Piriformis Syndrome, a blow or other traumatic injury such as a fall onto the Greater Trochanter, or chronic irritation to the bursa 

Arthritis on joint pain from bursitis

Bursitis is not chronic — most cases clear up by themselves within a few days to two weeks — but it can recur unless you adopt protective measures. The best way to prevent it is to avoid activities that require repetitive actions

Acute Bursitis

In the age of the internet, finding information on acute bursitis in hip joints can be as easy as typing “acute bursitis” into a search engine box. However, it might be a little more difficult to find information  that is useful

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