You can get trochanteric bursitis if you fall on your hip, have bad posture, or have had a previous hip injury or surgery. If you run or bike, continued friction and rapid movement in the hip joint can also cause the condition. Women and middle-aged or elderly people get the condition more often.
The trochanter is located in a specific area of the hip, at the tip of the thigh bone. Read on to learn about the causes and symptoms of trochanteric bursitis, as well as how to treat it. While there is no cure, there is a range of treatment options available that can improve mobility and reduce hip pain.
The initial treatment of trochanteric bursitis includes rest, anti-inflammatory medications, ice and stretching. Rest: This is the most important part of treatment. At least initially, patients need to avoid any activity that may worsen symptoms.
While it isn't common for the inflamed bursa in your hip to become infected, when it does happen, it's called septic bursitis – and it can be dangerous. See a doctor right away if you have pain and redness at the hip along with fever, chills or nausea.
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 key difference between arthritis and bursitis is the anatomical structures that they affect. Arthritis is a chronic condition that irreparably damages bone, cartilage, and joints, whereas bursitis is a temporary condition that involves the painful swelling of bursae for a time.
Injections. A corticosteroid drug injected into the bursa can relieve pain and inflammation in your shoulder or hip. This treatment generally works quickly and, in many cases, one injection is all you need.
Is Walking Good for Bursitis? Exercise is often prescribed to improve joint pain, so walking could be a vital part of managing your bursitis symptoms. However, you need to be careful and talk to your doctor before walking longer distances.
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.
Iliopsoas Bursitis
This condition is also generally referred to as hip bursitis. The main difference between iliopsoas bursitis and trochanteric bursitis is that iliopsoas bursitis causes pain in front of the hip and/or groin area, while trochanteric bursitis causes pain in the outer hip.
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.
Pain that doesn't go away
Hip bursitis (trochanteric bursitis) may be a sign of a more serious issue. 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.
Try sleeping on your back or, if you're a side sleeper, sleep on the side that doesn't hurt and put a pillow between your knees to keep your hips aligned. Around your hip bone and other joints are small sacs filled with fluid that cushion the joint when it moves.
The main symptom of trochanteric bursitis is pain at the point of the hip. The pain usually extends to the outside of the thigh area. In the early stages, the pain is usually described as sharp and intense. Later, the pain may become more of an ache and spread across a larger area of the hip.
Rest: The most important part of treating bursitis is resting your hip while the bursa heals. Rest your hip as much as possible to decrease pain and swelling. Resting will also prevent the bursitis from getting worse.
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.
Do not massage right over the bursa. This will make it worse. However, massage can be done to other areas of the body to address imbalances: I recommend John F Barnes myofascial release. In conclusion, you should work with a physical therapist to progress these exercises slowly and correctly.
Try glucosamine or omega-3 fatty acids.
Research has shown that over-the-counter glucosamine supplements may help inflammation in bursitis.
Bursa Drainage and Removal
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 likely to improve in a few days or weeks if you rest and treat the affected area. But it may return if you don't stretch and strengthen the muscles around the joint and change the way you do some activities.
Lying on the hip will cause pain, as will pressure on the area. Trochanteric bursitis of the hips symptoms make transitioning from sitting to standing, or climbing stairs, challenging. Trochanteric bursitis affects about 15% of women and 8% of men. It most commonly happens in middle-aged women.
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.
It can be a debilitating condition as it tends to persist in time and recur pain subsides. It is due to inflammation of a fluid-filled sac (bursa) around a part of the hip joint known as the greater trochanter.