What You Need to Know about Bursitis

Bursitis

Bursitis is known as an orthopedic condition and if you suffer from this, you will know it can be very painful especially if you don’t treat it.

In this article, we will discuss what you need to know about bursitis, for example, what it is, where it affects, how it is caused as well as how it can be treated. Keep reading to find out more.

What is Bursitis?

If you don’t know what bursitis then you should know that Bursitis is a condition that causes swelling of the bursa – thin cushions that are found between bones muscles, ligaments, tendons and skin. A bursa is made up of membrane and is filled with synovial fluid. When you develop bursitis, your joints can become swollen and extremely painful depending on how severe the condition is. This condition usually affects the person’s elbows, knees, hips and even the shoulder as well as ankles.

How is it Caused?

There are a number of ways that bursitis can be caused and many factors which include doing the same movements a lot of the time or if you injure yourself or even due to an infection.  If you repeat the same movements all the time you can be more at risk of developing bursitis. Depending on what you do, bursitis can develop in different places, for example, if you are a runner, you will be more likely to develop bursitis in your ankles or if you play tennis you are more likely to develop bursitis in your elbows.  If you spend a lot of time gardening or if you fit tiles or carpets, you can develop bursitis in your knees. If you injure yourself and damage your joints from lifting something heavy or if you move in the wrong way, you may find that you could also be at risk of developing bursitis. Although it is less likely, you can even develop bursitis if you have an infection or if you already have a condition such as arthritis.

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Treating Bursitis

If you develop bursitis you can usually treat it at home if it is not too severe. You can treat bursitis at home if you rest the area where the bursitis is and by using an ice pack to reduce the swelling of the affected area. To ease the pain you should take paracetamol or ibuprofen and within a few weeks, your symptoms can disappear. Although you can deal with bursitis at home, it is always important to speak to your doctor about orthopedic conditions and treatments to see if there’s something more serious going on that needs professional treatment. If you do want to learn more about the conditions and how a doctor could help, take a look at Yale Medicine. A doctor will be able to tell you if you have bursitis and can recommend how to treat it as well as give you information on the different treatment options that are available.

Whilst we’ve discussed the key points around bursitis in this article, you can still benefit from doing a lot more research online if you’re concerned. Professional advice is always the most important, so speak to a doctor if it’s causing you trouble.