Treating Bursitis To Alleviate Shoulder Pain
Almost every day we will see patients in our office with inflammation and irritation of their bursa. The bursa is a sac filled with lubricating fluid that is located between tissues such as bone, muscles, tendons, and skin. The role of the bursa is to decrease the effects of rubbing, friction and irritation. Bursitis can be quite painful and even disabling.
Bursitis is typically caused by repetitive motion, or minor impact to the area or sometimes from a sudden trauma like a fall or strain. Sadly, as a person ages the soft tissues are not as pliable. Older connective tissues tolerate stress less and are far more susceptible to failure.
Overuse to the joint at work or play can also increase a patient’s risk of bursitis. High risk activities include gardening, carpentry, painting, tennis, golf, skiing, throwing. It’s just as common for the bursa to get inflamed from chronic poor posture which leads to inefficiency in how the joints and connective tissue function. Poor physical conditioning can also be a factor.
An abnormal or poorly aligned joint can put added stress on the bursa. Typically, the patients that we see with bursitis are adults, especially those over 40 years old. However, we have seen younger patients with bursitis, especially athletes who have over trained or have sustained traumatic injuries. The bursa are found commonly in the major joints such as the elbow, shoulder, hip, knee and the Achilles tendon.
The most common symptom of bursitis is pain. The pain may build up gradually or often the onset is sudden and severe with no recent history of injury. It is common for there to be a significant loss of motion in the affected joint.
Staying fit, strong and flexible is always advisable and could be effective at preventing bursitis. One of the obvious benefits of staying strong is that it helps us to maintain a more natural posture and to help the body and joints work with less strain. Make sure you are drinking ample amounts of water and that your diet and lifestyle are not working against you.
When we approach a patient with bursitis we are going to check your alignment first. We will make corrective chiropractic adjustments as indicated. It is likely we will try to use physical therapy modalities to reduce inflammation and to reduce the patient’s pain. We will likely encourage the patient to avoid aggravating activities, rest the injured area and use ice intermittently over the area of pain. Bursitis is treatable and it is important not to delay consulting our office for relief from shoulder pain in Springfield Missouri because prolonged irritation and inflammation in the joints promote degenerative changes.