Signs of Bursitis and Its Accompanying Symptoms

Wednesday, April 7th, 2010 at 6:56 pm

The condition involving inflammation of the bursa sac is called bursitis. 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. This includes the shoulder, elbow, knees and the hip joint. The joints commonly affected are those that are frequently involved in doing repetitive movements.

Bursitis is often manageable with anti-inflammatory medications but there is a possibility of flaring up of the condition to be recurrent. 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 range of pain may vary depending on the extent of the inflammation of the bursa. 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. Limited range of motion occurs when the affected joint becomes stiff.

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 symptoms are common at the acute stage of bursitis. The manifested symptom for bursitis usually depends on the kind of joint affected.

Elbow Bursitis

Elbow bursitis is also called olecranon bursitis with swelling as the initial symptom. The elasticity of the skin along the elbow joint makes swelling discreet and unnoticeable at the initial stage. 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

Initial symptom of heel bursitis include pain on the heel that may affect the calf muscles as well. Once the pain radiates down the leg, it makes running, walking and jogging difficult to do.

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. There is a limited shoulder motion such as lifting and performing overhead activities.

Medication is the treatment of choice in managing the inflammatory response in busitis. Physical therapy programs also help restore the joint functional activity.