What is Bursitis?
Bursitis is an inflammation of a bursa in the body. Bursas are lubricated fluid- filled sacs throughout the body that help reduce rubbing, friction and irritation between bones and soft tissue.
What Causes Bursitis?
Bursitis is caused by direct trauma to the bursa or by a repetitive, minor impact to the area. When irritation is applied to the bursa, extra fluid fills the bursa to cause the bursitis.
How Do I Know if My Child Has Bursitis?
Most incidents from an acute bursitis occur from a hard hit to the area with immediate swelling. Chronic bursitis, however, occurs over a long period of time with repetitive use and friction to an area. This can be harder to detect due to the gradual onset of symptoms. Bursitis can affect many different parts of the body, but the most common areas are the elbows, shoulders, hips, knees and Achilles tendons.
Bursitis Symptoms
Most common symptoms of bursitis are pain and swelling. Due to the amount of swelling to the area, it may be harder to use the affected area. If the bursa is infected, the area could also become red, warm and increasingly painful.
How is Bursitis Diagnosed?
Your doctor will complete a detailed history and physical examination to evaluate the joint or area of question.
How is Bursitis Treated?
Most irritated bursae heal with time. Initial treatment includes padding the area to reduce the amount of stress placed on the bursa from possible repetitive hits to the area. Occasionally, the bursa can be aspirated (removing the fluid from the bursa with a needle) in a doctor’s office. This is usually done if other conservative treatment methods have failed, as it may lead to infection in rare cases. If the bursa is infected, a doctor may prescribe an antibiotic to treat the infection.
When is surgery needed?
Surgery is only recommended if an infected bursa does not respond to the antibiotics prescribed by a doctor, or if the bursitis does not improve with the non-surgical treatment recommendations. Padding the area of bursa removal may be recommended for several months for any return to play.
How Can Bursitis be Prevented?
Prevention of bursitis includes stretching, padding areas most commonly getting hit (like elbows and knees), and avoiding drastic increases in repetitions or forces to the body. Try gradually increasing mileage or resistance in the weight room to avoid chronic bursitis in hips, knees and Achilles tendons.
