5 Ways to Relieve Your Bursitis Symptoms

When you feel joint pain, you might automatically assume it’s a tendon injury or a sign of arthritis. Yet, bursitis is also a possibility. 

Bursitis is inflammation of the bursae, which cushion the spaces between bones, joints, muscles, and skin. Fluid-filled bursae sacs surround joints to reduce friction between tissues and help your joints move smoothly. 

Bursitis can affect any of the over 150 bursae in your body, particularly around joints. Knee pain, hip pain, and other painful joints can come from bursitis due to overuse. 

At Pain Management Associates LLC in Greenbelt, Maryland, interventional pain management experts Haddis Hagos, MD, and Brent Earls, MD, diagnose and treat bursitis with a multidisciplinary approach. Occasionally bursitis requires interventional procedures, but you can usually find relief with home care. 

Here are our top five ways to relieve bursitis symptoms like pain, swelling, and stiffness: 

1. Take over-the-counter (OTC) pain relievers 

You don’t need a prescription to obtain OTC pain relievers for your bursitis, and they can make a big difference in how you feel. Options like ibuprofen and acetaminophen have anti-inflammatory abilities, which means they can alleviate inflammation of the bursa sacs. 

Reduced inflammation can lead to less pain and might help improve your joint’s mobility. 

While OTC pain relievers are safe to use, be sure to consult our experts before taking them for more than 10 days in a row. 

2. Use heat and ice therapy

Heat and ice can help alleviate bursitis symptoms, but you must use them strategically. 

When icing a painful joint or body part, don’t apply ice directly to your skin. Instead, wrap a towel around an ice pack or cold compress, and apply it for 15 minutes at a time. You can do this several times a day to reduce inflammation and swelling. 

Heat therapy also benefits bursitis. A heating pad or hot water bottle can warm the area around your bursitis to improve blood flow and soothe discomfort. 

Alternating ice and heat might help your bursitis heal while providing some pain relief. 

3.  Elevate the injured body part 

Elevating a joint with bursitis helps drain excess fluid from the region to reduce swelling. While swelling is a sign of the healing process happening within the joint, swelling can also amplify pain by placing pressure on local nerves. 

To experience improvements with elevation, be sure to elevate the joint above the level of your heart or as high as possible. 

4. Limit movement of the joint

A splint, sling, or brace can support your joint with bursitis and allow it to heal. Too much movement can aggravate your bursitis and prolong its healing. 

Our experts might also recommend compression garments or bandages to limit swelling. Compressing the joint also helps stabilize it so it doesn’t move around as much.  

5. Engage in physical therapy

Personalized physical therapy is based on your specific goals and the location and severity of your bursitis. In physical therapy, you can work to: 

• Reduce pain
• Improve your range of motion
• Improve strength
• Improve balance and stability

When mild home care and physical therapy don’t improve bursitis symptoms, our experts can intervene with modern therapies and procedures. However, most bursitis heals on its own with home care. 

If your bursitis doesn’t improve with these methods, get in touch with our team at Pain Management Associates LLC. Call the office nearest you or request an appointment online today.