Lie on your back with both knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Put the ankle of your affected leg on your opposite thigh near your knee. Use your hand to gently push your knee away from your body until you feel a gentle stretch around your hip. Hold the stretch for 15 to 30 seconds.
Treatment for bursitis usually involves doing strengthening exercises and stretching. This helps prevent muscle atrophy—and can also be used to prevent bursitis, not just treat it. You should avoid activities that cause pain. Ask your doctor about exercises to help build strength in the area.
Activities or positions that put pressure on the hip bursa, such as lying down, sitting in one position for a long time, or walking distances can irritate the bursa and cause more pain.
The most common causes of bursitis are repetitive motions or positions that put pressure on the bursae around a joint. Examples include: Throwing a baseball or lifting something over your head repeatedly. Leaning on your elbows for long periods.
Foods that can trigger inflammation may make your pain worse so these are ones to avoid if you can. This includes processed foods (ready meals, sliced meat), caffeine, fizzy juice, sugars (cakes, biscuits etc.), and alcohol.
Exercise is often prescribed to improve joint pain, so walking could be a vital part of managing your bursitis symptoms.
Doctors may recommend over-the-counter nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen or naproxen, to reduce inflammation in the bursa and tendon and relieve pain. These medications are typically recommended for a few weeks while the body heals.
The main symptom of hip bursitis is pain. Other hip bursitis symptoms can include hip swelling. Pain from bursitis in your hip tends to get worse after you've been sitting or lying down. The pain may also increase when you do a repetitive activity, like climbing stairs.
Massage therapy has been found to be an effective treatment for both acute and chronic cases of shoulder bursitis. In addition to providing relief from pain, massage can also reduce inflammation, increase the range of motion, and improve overall function in the affected area.
Since prepatellar bursitis is quite superficial, topical NSAIDs such as diclofenac topical gel (Voltaren Gel) can be very effective, with minimal systemic side effects.
Chronic pain: Untreated bursitis can lead to a permanent thickening or enlargement of the bursa, which can cause chronic inflammation and pain. Muscle atrophy: Long term reduced use of joint can lead to decreased physical activity and loss of surrounding muscle.
Lifestyle and home remedies
Measures you can take to relieve the pain of bursitis include: Rest and don't overuse the affected area. Apply ice to reduce swelling for the first 48 hours after symptoms occur. Apply dry or moist heat, such as a heating pad or taking a warm bath.
Bursitis is when a joint becomes painful and swollen. It can usually be treated at home and should go away in a few weeks.
Apply Soothing Balm. Alternative remedies can speed relief when used with standard treatments. One remedy worth trying is Tiger Balm, a Chinese massage cream containing menthol, which may ease bursitis pain when used one or two times a day.
The best ways to naturally treat this condition is to rest the affected area, use ice to control swelling, dull the pain naturally, stretch and move the area, prevent relapses with proper posture, and eat a healthy diet and exercise.
Resting the affected area and using bandages and anti-inflammatory medications usually helps to make the inflammation go away. Antibiotics are used if bacteria are involved. If the symptoms don't improve, surgery to remove the inflamed bursa is considered.
If the bursa is severely damaged, the surgeon may remove the entire inflamed sac. The incision is closed with stitches. Removal of a bursa does not affect the way the muscles or joints work and can permanently relieve the pain and swelling caused by bursitis.
Bursitis is common in adults, especially after age 40. It's usually caused by repeated pressure on an area or by using a joint too much. High-risk activities include gardening, raking, carpentry, shoveling, painting, scrubbing, tennis, golf, skiing, and throwing.
Traumatic bursitis is most common before age 35. Bursitis is associated with occupations that require repetitive movements and/or prolonged pressure on the joints.
While aseptic (non-infected) bursitis may be a common condition that can be treated at home, septic bursitis is a serious condition that requires immediate medical attention.
When sleeping with shoulder bursitis, you should avoid sleeping on your front or side. Sleeping on your back is best for this condition, though if you simply cannot get to sleep on your back you can try the side-sleeping positions above.
If you try to 'push through' the pain of bursitis, you'll only cause additional inflammation. If you have bursitis of the shoulder or elbow, use your other arm instead of the affected arm, at least until the pain subsides.
It's also really important when suffering this type of pain, to avoid sitting with you legs crossed. At least until your symptoms settle down. It's also important that you sit with your hips a little bit higher than your knees to prevent compression of the hips tendons and bursa.