All You Need to Know About Bursitis
Bursitis is an inflammatory disorder caused by trauma due to direct impact or repetitive injury. Besides trauma, other risk factors associated with developing bursitis include rheumatoid arthritis, pseudogout, and gout. Bursitis causes tenderness, and pain in the affected tendon or bone. The bursae sacs might swell, which makes movement difficult quite often. The foot, knee, elbow, and shoulder are some of the joints that are most commonly affected.
How Does Bursitis Develop and What is a Bursa?
Bursae (plural for bursa) are lubricated, thin cushions that are at the points of friction in between a bone and soft tissue that surrounds the bone, tendons, ligaments, muscles, and skin. A bursa is in between the bone and the tissue (e.g., skin, ligament, muscle) similar to a small water balloon with few drops of fluid inside of it. The following are essential characteristics of bursae:
- Healthy bursae are thin. For instance, a research study was conducted with reasonably large bursa that was in between the skin and kneecap that showed that the average measurements of the bursa were a couple of millimeters thick with an average diameter of around four centimeters.
- The size of bursae can vary depending on location in the body and the individual variation that present from person-to-person.
- Some bursae are right below the surface of the skin, but others are deep in soft tissue such as muscle (e.g., shoulder).
- There are around 160 bursae in an adult body.
- Some of these bursae are present at birth, while others develop later on due to frequent friction. For instance, most individuals develop a bursa after age 7 in the elbow (the olecranon bursa).
- Depending on the person, other bursae might develop. An individual who wears constricting shoes on a regular basis or whose foot anatomy is abnormal might develop a bursa on the outer part of the big toe joint.
The subdeltoid bursa (subacromial bursa) in the shoulder separates your supraspinatus tendon from your deltoid muscle and the overlying bone. Usually, inflammation of this bursa is the result of an injury to your surrounding structures, with the rotator cuff being the most common one. A shoulder bursitis can limit your shoulder’s range of motion, resulting in shoulder impingement syndrome, and eventual pain. Shoulder pain from a shoulder bursitis is often felt in front or side of your shoulder joint.
Elbow bursitis is a common cause of elbow pain. The most common form of elbow bursitis is the olecranon bursitis. The olecranon bursitis is located at the tip of the elbow. Olecranon bursitis is a common cause of pain at the tip of the elbow. As mentioned earlier, it is the result of a direct traumatic event or repetitive traumatic events. With an elbow bursitis, the elbow range of motion is limited and painful. Below characteristics are common in an inflamed elbow bursa:
- Quite often pain will be worse at night.
- Reaching activities or overhead lifting is uncomfortable.
- The most common type of bursitis is olecranon bursitis or bursitis of the tip of your elbow.
The Olecranon Bursa of the Elbow
The olecranon bursa lies between the skin and olecranon (bony tip of elbow). The olecranon bursa will develop at some point after seven years old.
Severe elbow bursitis might cause an inflamed olecranon bursa to swell significantly and can easily measure 2.5 cm wide and 6 to 7 cm long. A large olecranon bursa can appear as if you have a small golf ball or egg underneath your skin. Such site-specific, visible swelling might make it easy to diagnose elbow bursitis. However, one should not rush to self-diagnosis or quickly rule out elbow swelling as bursitis, as other more severe conditions like infections can complicate bursa.
Can Bursitis Develop in the Buttocks?
Yes, chronic back problems, prolonged tightness of the gluteal muscles, and trauma can irritate and inflame the ischiogluteal bursa. The ischogluteal bursa is an inconsistent bursa between the gluteus maximus and the ischial tuberosity. The ischial tuberosity lies in the most inferior portion of the buttocks, directly beneath the pubic bone. Prolonged sitting on a hard surface, bicycling for extended periods can irritate the ischiogluteal bursa. Ischiogluteal bursitis is also referred to as weaver’s bottom sometimes from the common position that the occupation uses. We have listed some of the most common findings in persons with ischiogluteal bursitis:
- Leg pain
- The individual has a hard time standing on their tiptoe on the side that is affected.
- The pain is worse when the individual is lying down, and their hip is passively bent.
- When sitting, the individual might elevate their painful buttock.
- Direct pressure on the area can cause a sharp pain.
- Pain might radiate down the back of the person’s thigh.
- Tenderness at pubic bone, which can be made worse by extending and bending the leg.
- The pain occurs when walking and sitting.
Hip Bursitis (Iliopsoas Bursitis)
The largest bursa in the body is iliopsoas bursa. It is deep to and in front of the hip joint. Usually, when bursitis occurs here, it is associated with having hip problems, like an injury (mainly from running) or arthritis.
Iliopsoas bursitis can cause significant leg pain, thigh pain, and hip pain. It can radiate (run down) the middle and front areas of your thigh down to the knee and then increases whenever the hip is rotated and extended. Please review the article published on Dynamic Chiropractic about Trochanteric bursitis treatment through clinical chiropractic.
Extension of your hip while walking can cause leg pain or hip pain so you might limit your stride on the side that is affected and take shorter steps. Also, there might be tenderness in your groin area. At times a mass might be felt that resembles a hernia. The individual might feel tingling or numbness in hip, thigh, and leg if the inflamed bursa compresses the adjacent nerves.
Thigh Bursitis or the Trochanteric Bursitis
The trochanteric bursa is located on the outer thigh over your hip. It might become inflamed and cause significant thigh pain and leg pain. This type of bursitis is quite common and most frequently occurs in middle-aged, overweight women.
Trochanteric bursitis causes aching, deep pain along the side of your hip that might extend into the side of your knee or your buttocks. Stretching, local pressure or activity may aggravate the pain. Pain is frequently worse at night and may make it hard to sleep on the side that is affected.
The knee has ten bursae, but it can be as many as 13, due to individual variations! Symptoms of knee bursitis can vary, depending on the severity of swelling. You may experience knee pain, tenderness, redness or a feeling of warmth in the knees. Often, it starts mild, but can progressively worsen when neglected. Knee bursitis sufferers often complain of a restricted range of motion, increased pain when kneeling or walking. Our advice to all knee pain sufferers is to visit one the best clinical chiropractors in Kula Lumpur and get a proper evaluation of your knee joint, meniscus, ligaments, muscles, and bursae.
The knee joint has ten named knee bursae that can cause pain. We have listed these for you below:
There are a total of five bursae in front of the knee:
- Supra-patellar bursa or the supra-patellar recess
- Prepatellar bursa
- Deep infra-patellar bursa
- Subcutaneous bursa (superficial bursa or infra-patellar bursa)
- Pre-tibial bursa
Looking from laterally (outer side of the knee), there are four bursae:
- Lateral gastrocnemius bursa or the sub-tendinous bursa
- Fibular bursa
- Fibulo-popliteal bursa
- Sub-popliteal bursa (sub-popliteal recess)
Medially (inner part of the knee), there are three bursae:
- Medial gastrocnemius bursa (sub-tendinous bursa)
- Anserine bursa
- Bursa semimembranosa
Retrocalcaneal bursitis or ankle bursitis may occur whenever the bursa underneath the Achilles tendon on the back of your heel becomes inflamed. Ankle bursitis is often caused by a local trauma that is associated with wearing high heels or a poorly designed shoe. It may also be caused by excessive amounts of walking. It might occur along with Achilles tendonitis as well. Ankle bursitis is a common source of ankle and foot pain.
An inflamed retrocalcaneal bursa frequently occurs with overuse injury in ice skaters, young athletes, and individuals who are just starting a new exercise program, including jumping or walking. Usually, the pain is on the back of a heel and will increase with resisted flexion or passive extension.
Are any home remedies available for bursitis?
Yes, and we will be glad to share it with you. The first and most important thing to remember about disorders of a bursa is that they are inflammatory processes. Inflammatory processes are always the result of micro or macro traumatic events. Micro-trauma is the repetitive things you do, while macro trauma pertains to an actual traumatic event. So, the home care for any traumatic pain, injury or disorder is protected, rest, ice, compress, and elevate. In other words, remember P-R-I-C-E:
- Protection in the form of padding, particularly for bursae that close to the surface of your skin on your knees and ankles.
- Rest the affected area when possible can help symptoms. Selective alternative forms of exercise activities that might eliminate painful motions. Swimming might be helpful.
- Ice can be quite effective in reducing pain and inflammation. Small ice packs, like frozen vegetable packages that are applied to the area for around 10 minutes two times per day at the light can help to decrease inflammation in the area.
- Compression and elevation might be helpful whenever possible to compress the area. You can apply an elastic bandage (particularly to elbows and knees). The area should be kept elevated over your heart to prevent blood from pooling.
Can a bursa be infected?
Yes, it can. And this is why you should never self-diagnosis your self. Always get an expert to assess your condition before getting care. Secondly, get care from a clinical team and not the unlearned or the inexperienced. It is your body and your health. Good health is more precious than wealth. Don’t take a chance.
Since an infectious process may cause bursitis, it is critical to have an accurate diagnosis. Fever is a sign that you need to seek immediate medical care since it might indicate infection. Other infection warning signs include severe tenderness or redness or constant warmth around the joint. Skin infections in the area (cellulitis) might mean the bursa also is infected. Visit one of our centers in Malaysia for the best bursitis treatment program in Malaysia.
Why would you seek care from our clinical teams?
Before treatment can be rendered, we need to identify the root cause of your condition. We have treated thousands of patients successfully; the key to our clinical successes when others fail is our understanding of spine and joint disorder. Our abilities to accurately diagnose your condition are unparalleled when it comes to issues involving the bursae. In short, our research-based non-surgical methods of care are better, because we treat the root-cause through holistic means. Our clinical teams of expert chiropractors and the best clinical physiotherapist team in Kuala Lumpur pay particular attention to the root cause of your condition. Chiropractic Specialty Center’s abilities to identify the root-cause are the primary reason when so many of our patients avoid flare-ups.
We have some of the best chiropractors and physiotherapist in Malaysia. In Malaysia, are experts you need for sports injury, joint, and non-surgical treatment. We treat sports and joint injuries through the collaborative efforts from our research-based clinical physiotherapies and some of the best chiropractors in Malaysia. If you are suffering from injury or pain, we are your best option. Our clinical team provides the best bursitis treatment program via technology and integrative holistic means to help you recover quickly.