Explaining Bursitis

Bursitis is a terribly painful bone condition which affect bursae. Bursae is those fluid filled pads that are protective cushioning to bones. When bursae becomes full of inflammation, the result is bursitis. Bursitis commonly attacks the shoulder area most of all. But that doesn't mean you can't get it in your knee also.

The most common symptoms of bursitis are joint stiffness, a lot of swelling in whichever area it's in, and those areas will also be very inflexible and ache a lot too. It may ache until the point where the area is hard to move. When you are active, there is usually aching and a fever if there is an infection as a cause of the bursitis.

Bursitis can be caused by an overuse of the shoulder or knee areas. You are at the highest risk of getting bursitis if you have an occupation that requires a lot of usage of the bursae of the shoulder, or knee. People that have other medical conditions where inflammation can arise easily in bones such as diabetes, rheumatoid or osteoarthritis, or gout are likely to have bursitis.

What the doctor will do when you are asking about your symptoms showing bursitis is to take an X-ray or another imaging study to see exactly what is going on in the area. In any case, the doctor will want to rule out other causes for your bursitis, and x-rays may help to determine if something else is going on other than inflammation. Sometimes calcium deposits can build up in the shoulder area and cause bursitis. In that case, those require surgical removal. These bone spurs that people commonly have sometimes are an overgrowth of the bone, and since that is the case, it creates a lot of pain. These can clearly be seen on an xray.

Treatment of your bursitis within the whole picture involves keeping the shoulder immobilized and relaxed from stress. With the swelling, an ice pack applied to the affected area may also help you feel much better.

Some doctors will inject you with Prednisone, (a steroidal drug,) to help you get through your shoulder pain or knee pain. Prednisone reduces inflammation, and that in turn helps the pains.

If there has been an infection as the cause of your joint pain in bursitis, part of the treatment plan will be antibiotics. Along with that, your doctor may tell you to take some Advil, or other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug.