Tips for Knee Bursitis Relief
Rest and avoid activities that aggravate your symptoms. Pain is a sign that you should stop what you are doing. This will help reduce inflammation and allow your body to heal. Apply ice to your knee for 20 minutes at a time several times a day to reduce swelling and pain.
Bursitis often improves over time, so treatment is usually aimed at symptom relief. However, depending on the cause of your knee bursitis and which bursa is infected, your doctor might recommend one or more treatment approaches.
Walking can aggravate the symptoms of knee bursitis, so it's important to listen to your body and take it easy if you're experiencing pain.
Tip #1 Avoid Prolonged Kneeling or Excessive Squatting
Prolonged kneeling and excessive squatting can irritate and inflame the bursa: when you kneel or squat, the pressure that your knees bear is roughly eight times your normal bodyweight. If modifying your activities is not possible, try not to squat all the way down.
Frequent and sustained pressure, such as from kneeling, especially on hard surfaces. Overuse or strenuous activity. A direct blow to your knee. Bacterial infection of the bursa.
Unfortunately, this is one of the worst things that you can do as it will cause further irritation of the condition. Unlike a muscular injury, which can respond well to massage, knee bursitis contains inflammatory fluids which are encapsulated in the inflamed and swollen synovial lining of the knee bursa.
Diclofenac topical (Voltaren Gel, Flector Transdermal Patch, Pennsaid topical solution) Since prepatellar bursitis is quite superficial, topical NSAIDs such as diclofenac topical gel (Voltaren Gel) can be very effective, with minimal systemic side effects.
Apply ice 10 to 15 minutes at a time, as often as twice an hour, for 3 days (72 hours). You can try heat, or alternating heat and ice, after the first 72 hours. Use pain relievers. Use nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen or naproxen, to reduce pain and inflammation.
If you continue to have bursitis pain at the hip that has not improved despite extensive treatment, you may have a tear of a muscle located next to the bursa called the gluteus medius. A tear of this muscle can cause significant pain that extends into the buttocks and down the leg.
Getting a doctor to check your knee condition will ensure you get the right diagnosis and treatment. While bursitis is not a dangerous condition and can be treated, delaying a diagnosis and treatment can cause you unnecessary pain and symptoms.
Heat (eg, a heating pad) may be more effective for deeper forms of bursitis, such as the hip, shoulder, or inner knee. In many cases, physical therapy can help treat symptoms of bursitis and prevent future recurrence.
A pes anserine bursitis knee brace can be helpful to reduce swelling, but no bulky brace is needed, just a knee sleeve will work. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or NSAIDs can be used to help with pes anserine bursitis.
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.
Bursae are small, fluid-filled sacs that act as protective cushions in the body, often near to joints. 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.
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. If you can't find Tiger Balm in your local health food store, you can make a homemade balm by mixing water and turmeric powder (a spice used in curry recipes) into a paste.
Physiotherapy is considered an effective option for treating knee bursitis. It is a non-invasive way of managing knee bursitis. Physiotherapists may use various techniques including manual therapy, exercise, hot-cold therapy, and compression techniques to reduce the symptoms of knee bursitis.
Use a Soft Mattress or a Body Pillow
If you're experiencing aches and pains as a result of bursitis, consider using a soft mattress. The right soft mattress for you should provide optimal support and pressure relief. Nurse Cobb also recommends placing a small body pillow between your knees for more comfortable rest.
Sit with your affected leg straight and supported on the floor or a firm bed. Place a small, rolled-up towel under your affected knee. Your other leg should be bent, with that foot flat on the floor. Tighten the thigh muscles of your affected leg by pressing the back of your knee down into the towel.
The pain may radiate down your leg to the midcalf. Due to the location of the bursa, pain will make kneeling difficult.
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.
Pes anserine bursitis can cause pain, swelling and tenderness on the inside of your lower leg, around 5-7cm below your knee. However, pain may spread to the front of your knee and down your lower leg.