Chronic Illness And Laughter

Bursitis involves inflammation of the bursa sac. The joint may be subjected with wear and tear that may cause bursitis. The main function of the bursa sac along the joints is for lubricating the surrounding tissues to prevent friction during joint movement.

Common areas affected with bursitis are the large joints in the body. Major joints affected are the hips, knees, elbows and shoulder. Joints involved with frequent movements are commonly prone to bursitis.

Treatment for bursitis is usually anti-infammatory agents to reduce the inflammed joint structures. There are variable symptoms manifested with bursitis. One may feel the joints to be painful, achy, swollen with a tender area and it may appear red and hot to touch.

Joint pain is the most common symptom. The extent of pain experienced will depend on the rate of the bursa inflammation. Some may find minimal pain and pain only during movement while others experience pain which can be very painful enough to disturb sleep at night. Joint stiffness occurs which results to limited range of motion.

Joint swelling and tenderness often occurs together. These symptoms make the affected joint painful to touch. One can also feel warmth along the affected area caused by the inflammatory condition along the bursa. The above symptoms may naturally result to limited range of motion. With increased level of pain, some choose not to touch and move the joint.

The basic initial symptom that occurs with bursitis is inflammation. Inflammatory symptoms include pain, redness, tenderness, soreness and swelling. These are the symptoms initially experienced with bursitis on its early stage. The symptoms may also vary according to which joint is affected.

Elbow Bursitis

Elbow bursitis is also called olecranon bursitis with swelling as the initial symptom. The swelling is often not obvious because the skin at the elbow region is quite elastic. As the inflammation gets worse, the bursa will increase in size making the swelling highly visible. Tenderness and redness on the affected area soon follow with pain associated with movements.

Heel Bursitis

In heel bursitis, the inflammatory response on the heel bursa may extend to the calf muscle with resulting pain and tenderness. The pain on the leg that may radiate down the ankle making jogging and walking painful activities.

Sharp, shooting pain is a common symptom that radiates along the hips and thighs in trochanteric or hip bursitis. The pain is often disturbing at night. The pain is further aggravated with increased body weight that applies more pressure along the hip joint.

Swelling and tenderness are symptoms common in knee bursitis. The knee joint may also be warm to touch. Pain is associated with straining activities imposed along the knee joints.

Shoulder Bursitis

Pain at night is a common symptom of shoulder bursitis. One may have difficulty sleeping on the side of the affected shoulder. Lifting and overhead activities are difficult to do with some limited shoulder range of motion.

Medication treatment can best manage inflammation along the affected joints in bursitis. Physical therapy programs also help restore the joint functional activity.

Technorati Tags: bursitis, Pain Management, signs and symptoms of bursitis