Bursitis
Definition
Whether at work or at play, if you overuse or repetitively add stress to your body’s joints, you may eventually develop a painful inflammation called bursitis.

In your body there are more than 150 bursae. These small, fluid-filled sacs lubricate and cushion pressure points between your bones and the tendons and muscles near your joints. They exist to help your joints move with ease. Bursitis occurs when a bursa becomes inflamed. When inflammation occurs, movement or pressure is painful.

Bursitis most commonly affects the joints in your shoulders, elbows or hips.

Bursitis most commonly affects the joints in your shoulders, elbows or hips. However you can also suffer bursitis by your knee, heel and the base of your big toe. Bursitis pain usually goes away within a few weeks or so with correct and proper treatment, but recurrent flare-ups of bursitis are also common.

Symptoms
If you have bursitis, you may notice:

• A dull ache or stiffness in the area around your elbow, hip, knee, shoulder, big toe or other joints
• An increase of pain with movement or pressure
• An area that feels swollen or warm to the touch
• Occasional skin redness in the area of the inflamed bursa

Bursitis of the hip doesn’t cause any visible swelling or skin redness because the bursae are located beneath some of your body’s bulkiest muscles. In this type of bursitis, pain is primarily over the greater trochanter, a portion of your thighbone (femur) that juts out just below where the bone joins the hip.

Causes
Common causes of bursitis are attributed to the overuse, stress and direct trauma to a joint, such as with repeated bumping or prolonged pressure from kneeling. Bursitis may also result from an infection, arthritis or gout. However many times, the cause is unknown.

Bursitis in certain locations of your body is caused by repetitive motion related to certain activities:

• Shoulder. Bursitis of the shoulder often results from injury to the rotator cuff, the muscles and tendons that connect your upper arm bone to your shoulder blade. Causes of the injury may include falling, lifting and repetitive overhead arm activities. Sometimes it’s hard to distinguish between the pain caused by bursitis and that caused by a rotator cuff injury.
• Elbow. This type of bursitis is associated with actions requiring you to repeatedly bend and extend your elbow. You may get such an inflammation by doing common activities such as pushing a vacuum cleaner back and forth, or could be sports related such as throwing a baseball, swinging a tennis racket or a golf club. Even simply repeated leaning on your elbows could lead to bursitis over the tip of your elbow.
• Buttocks. This type of bursitis describes an inflamed bursa over the bone in your buttocks. It may result from sitting on a hard surface for long periods, such as on a bike.
• Hip. Bursitis of the hip is frequently associated with arthritis or a hip injury. The pressure from standing or sitting for a prolonged time also may lead to bursitis of the hip.
• Knee. In this form of bursitis, a soft, egg-shaped bump occurs on the front of your knee, the result of repetitive kneeling while installing tiles, scrubbing a floor, gardening or doing other activities that place pressure on your knees. A sharp blow to the knee can cause inflammation of the bursae around the kneecap. People with arthritis who are overweight often develop bursitis of the knee.
• Ankle. Inflammation of the bursa in the ankle commonly occurs as a result of improper footwear or prolonged walking or in sports, such as ice-skating.
  You may not be able to pinpoint a specific incident or activity that led to your bursitis. In some cases, the inflammation may stem from a staphylococcal infection.

Risk factorsIf you work in a profession or have a hobby that requires repetitive motion, you’re at an increased risk of developing bursitis. The occurrence of bursitis becomes more common in middle age as your body gets older. In addition, certain diseases and conditions increase your risk of developing bursitis, such as:

The occurrence of bursitis becomes more common in middle age as your body gets older.

• Arthritis
• Gout
• Staphylococcal infection

When to seek medical advice
Most often bursitis responds well to home treatment. However, consult your doctor if:

• Bursitis pain is disabling or doesn’t subside after two weeks of home treatment
• You notice excessive swelling, redness, bruising or a rash in the affected area
• Pain is sharp or shooting, especially when you exercise or exert yourself
• You have a fever
• You have other medical conditions that may increase your risk of an infection, such as diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis or an autoimmune disease, such as lupus
• You take medications that increase your risk of infection, such as corticosteroids or immunosuppressants

Tests and diagnosis
Your doctor may have you undergo a physical examination and ask you about your recent activities. By feeling around the inflamed joint and surrounding area, your doctor may be able to identify a specific area of tenderness.

If it appears that something else may be causing the discomfort, your physician may request an X-ray of the affected area. If bursitis is the cause, X-ray images can’t positively establish the diagnosis, but they can help to exclude other causes of your discomfort.

Although you usually can trace bursitis to events of overuse or pressure, there may be no obvious cause. In the latter case, your doctor may want to perform additional screening to rule out other causes of joint inflammation and pain. This may include blood tests or an analysis of fluid from the inflamed bursa.

Applying ice to reduce swelling

Treatments and drugs
Bursitis treatment is usually simple and includes:

• Resting and immobilizing the affected area
• Applying ice to reduce swelling
• Taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to relieve pain and reduce inflammation

By applying simple self-care and home treatment, bursitis will usually disappear within a couple of weeks.

Sometimes, your doctor may recommend physical therapy or exercises to strengthen the muscles in the area to avoid future inflammation in that area. Additionally, your doctor may inject a corticosteroid drug into the bursa to relieve inflammation. This treatment generally brings immediate relief and, in many cases, one injection is all you’ll need.

If your bursitis is caused by an infection, you’ll need to take antibiotics. Sometimes the bursa must be surgically drained, but only rarely is surgical removal of the affected bursa necessary.

Prevention
To help prevent bursitis or reduce the severity of flare-ups:

• Stretch your muscles. Warm up or stretch before and after physical activities.
• Strengthen your muscles. Strengthening can help protect your joints. Wait until the pain and inflammation are gone before starting to exercise a joint that has bursitis.
• Take frequent breaks from repetitive tasks. Alternate repetitive tasks with rest or other activities.
• Cushion your joint. Use cushioned chairs, foam for kneeling or elbow pads. Avoid resting your elbows on hard surfaces. Avoid shoes that don’t fit properly or that have worn-down heels.
• Don’t sit still for long periods. Get up and move about frequently.
• Practice good posture. For example, avoid leaning on your elbows.

If your bursitis is caused by a chronic underlying condition, such as arthritis, it may recur despite these preventive measures.

Lifestyle and home remedies
For taking care of bursitis at home:

• Take nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). NSAIDs such as aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, others) or naproxen sodium (Aleve) can provide relief. Use as directed. Consult your doctor if you need NSAIDs for an extended period of time.
• Apply ice packs. Use them for 20 minutes several times a day during the first few days, or for as long as the joint area is warm to the touch.
• Apply heat. Use heat after the affected joint is no longer warm or red to help relieve muscle and joint pain and stiffness. But don’t overdo it. Don’t apply heat for more than 20 minutes at a time.

Sometimes moist heat seems to penetrate deeper and give you more relief than does dry heat.

• Perform stretching exercises. Stretching can help restore full range of motion.
• Elevate the affected joint. Raising your knee or elbow can help reduce swelling.
• Keep pressure off your joint. If possible, use an elastic bandage, sling or soft foam pad to protect a joint until the swelling goes down.

Source: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/bursitis/DS00032/DSECTION=treatments-and-drugs

10. Your posture is ruining your joints! That’s right, the way you sit and stand throughout the day most likely impact the way your knees and feet hurt. If your posture is awful you will place additional pressure on your back and lower extremities because your spine is not in proper alignment.

9. You may have arthritis and not know it. Several suffer from joint pain all over their body because of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. According to the CDC, 46 million Americans suffer from arthritis. Also, one in 250 children are born with some form of arthritis. See a doctor if you think you could have arthritis.

8. There are natural substances that can assist you. Omega-3’s, glucosamine, MSM and Hyaluronic Acid have been scientifically confirmed to help restore joints and reduce pain.

7. Your lifting could be killing your joints. Heavy lifting and bad form in and out of the gym has led to a severe increase in joint-related pain and consequently, a rise in the purchase of joint relief formulas.

Be careful when performing lifts. Do not place extra pressure on elbows, knees and the back when weight training.

6. Stretch AFTER your workouts! It’s okay to warm up on Cardio and do a quick stretch before an exercise, but stretching a cold muscle will decrease force production and could cause an injury to joint connective tissue. Stretching has been a source of confusion for years. But research shows static stretching is best done after a workout, when the muscles and joints are warm and primed.

Your shoes are most likely lacking in arch support and cushion, which could be causing strain on your knees, hips and back.

5. Allergic to shellfish? Don’t take glucosamine. Joint formulas that include glucosomine and krill oil may be useful for alleviating joint pain, but you should stay away from these compounds if you have a shellfish allergy. Most supplement manufacturers derive these formulas from crustaceans. What should you do? Opt for Omega-3’s to lubricate those tender joints.

4. Your shoes are killing you! That’s right, your shoes are most likely lacking in arch support and cushion, which could be causing strain on your knees, hips and back. Look into a health shoe store for a shoe specifically designed for your needs. Or, if you hate lame-looking shoes, get an insole, which can help support those aching feet and give your body assistance.

3. Were you told you have fibromayalgia? Do you have joint pain? This author was told he had fibromayalgia for three years until he was correctly diagnosed with arthritis. Fibromayalgia is often diagnosed when the pain cannot be attributed to anything specific.

2. Move away from the painkillers. Doctors prescribe Prednisone and NSAIDS (non steroidal anti-inflammatories) often without regard for the long term side effects. Ibuprofen and Aleve can lead to stomach bleeding and exacerbate joint pain because of their contribution to leaky gut. This is a condition where bacteria in the digestive tract leaks into the blood steam and can deposit in joint tissue, increasing inflammation. Try natural anti-inflammatories like Omega-3’s and circumin, rather than relying on painkillers and steroids.

1. Change your diet. The foods you are eating could be causing you joint pain. Certain foods such as gluten, saturated fats, and animal protein can cause inflammation and make joint pain intolerable. Try to eliminate foods that are known to be pro-inflammatories.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sean_Covell

There are numerous joint pain reasons; with some preventable, others not. For instance losing some excess weight is a sure way to help avoid joint pain that will increase later in life. Additionally if you’re an athlete you should select to do exercises that are properly accepted by a personal trainer and know not to push yourself too far past your limits on a continual basis. Repetitive joint stress is after all a principal cause of joint pain.

In fact avoiding joint pain can be as simple as eating a well-balanced diet. Individuals who eat so much fast food, who don’t take multivitamins, and avoid vegetables like the plague will discover themselves at risk for long-term joint deterioration which will lead to pain and distress.

Cartilage supplements act as a supportive booster shot to your body’s own capability to restore and rejuvenate cartilage over time.

However these things can be avoided which will put you up for long-term healthy joints. What happens however if you ignored these joint pain causes and are now suffering? The good news is that one you are not alone, and two there is help out there. There is completely no necessity to relegate yourself to long term distress and pain because you ignored joint pain causes in your youth. Your body is a amazing system competent of curing many of its own maladies; however sometimes even your body needs some external help.

Cartilage supplements act as a supportive booster shot to your body’s own capability to restore and rejuvenate cartilage over time. Your body after all can only work so fast to restore lost cartilage; that is why it is vital to provide it the proper building blocks essential to complete this job rapidly if you want to find yourself pain-free within a sensible amount of time. Cartilage supplements contain herbs and minerals that your body desires to restore cartilage. Essentially it is like a well-balanced diet in a pill exclusively customized towards cartilage regeneration.

Sophie Symons is the director of popular blog HealthAndWellBeingOnline.Com Sophie is an expert on how to discover joint pain causes Check out her blog for more information.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sophie_Symons

Joint mobility training involves actively moving your joints with the goal of maintaining or restoring your mobility. This therefore improves joint flexibility by reducing the excess tension surrounding the joints and by recovering the coordination of more efficient movement.

Usually people only move to a point where it is pain-free, not pushing through areas of tension. By working within these guidelines, you can reduce tension in the muscles surrounding the joints, speed recovery from exercise, and restore lost motion from past injuries.

This works through increased control over your movements you can restore proper posture and increase your movement efficiency. Emphasis placed on posture and controlled movement will help to re-educate the nervous system.

Moreover this can also help you deal with previous low back pain and avoid it from reoccurring. Also if you have had neck or shoulder injuries and problems in the past, this can reduce pain and release tension.

By moving every joint or groups of joints in an isolated way this will help restore or maintain mobility. This can be performed in a standing position to enhance posture. Simple rotations to start and then progressively more complex patterns involving multiple joints.

Additional moves such as Tai Chi, yoga, dance and the martial arts will further help the joint or group of joints, and then for movements that involve multiple joints.

By means of progressing from basic rotations to more difficult figure 8 patterns, your nervous system is provided with greater stimulus, which as a result adapts to this stress in a positive way.

Additional moves such as Tai Chi, yoga, dance and the martial arts will further help the joint or group of joints, and then for movements that involve multiple joints.

The foundation for joint mobility training lies in two areas. One, it works with your body’s reflexes to repair lost motion due to stress, poor posture, injury, and lack of movement. It seems that reflexes can impair joint function long after the threat of harm is gone.

Reflexes that were meant to protect the body, but are still active at a later time. The muscles adjoining a joint will tighten or reflexively spasm to protect a joint from anymore injury.

Meaning, movement has to be retrained following injury to restore proper function. Proprioception, which is the body’s ability to sense and feel where it is in relative to movement, is often impaired after injury. It needs to be re-educated in order to work correctly.

Therefore Joint mobility work does an outstanding job of retraining proprioception (re-educates the nervous system). By moving at a speed it can manage, in a range of motion that is pain-free, avoiding unnecessary tension, movement is progressively restored. Your movements become more capable, because you have greater control over them.

In summary according to Dr. Eric Cobb, you need to balance tension and relaxation in the muscles for optimal performance. While that may seem rather obvious, it’s a perfect example of how our multifaceted bodies often function in a straightforward manner.

Brian Morgan has been a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) since 1993. He is also a massage therapist, with 5 years experience working in rehab settings with people of all ages. For more information, go to http://www.brianmorganfitness.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Brian_Morgan

Pain and joint stiffness often accompanies one of the most common forms of arthritis, however different patients manifest different osteoarthritis symptoms which may not be present all the time. Those who do suffer severe osteoarthritis symptoms in their daily lives can be disrupted by the pain and slow mobility, but on the days the symptoms are lighter, this may appear to be normal and suffer no problems at all. As a result confusing patients and those around them as well, which could lead them to doubt the presence of the ailment completely.

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative disease that attacks the cartilage in the joints. This can be caused by an an infection in the joint’s tissue or simply by old age or injury to the joint, in which the cartilage simply wears out. Since the cartilage works as a cushion in the joint and helps provide lubrication for movement, osteoarthritis symptoms can include pain from the joints rubbing against each other and in more severe cases, can cause the joints to lock up.

Usually one of the misconceptions surrounding osteoarthritis symptoms is that the pain will be accompanied by a fever and complete lack of mobility. While in some patients the osteoarthritis symptoms may appear to worsen in wet or cold weather, it is another common misconception that the symptoms are wholly affected by the weather. Although it has been shown that high humidity can affect many osteoarthritis patients and their ability to move without some pain.

Patients May Experience Different Levels Of Pain

Although osteoarthritis usually is first felt in the small joints in the hands and feet, the severity of the pain, as well as its duration can be different among patients. This is because different people have different tolerance to pain, which is one of the osteoarthritis symptoms that is often overlooked. It is important to know the arthritis signs and symptoms, and understanding how they can affect a person’s movements is important to the patient as well as those around them.

As more cartilage disappears in the joints, patients may also hear the bones of the joint coming into contact with each other. This crackling noise will usually be accompanied by pain and in some instances may lock up the joints making movement all but impossible. This is one of the osteoarthritis symptoms that may also come with a burning sensation of the associated muscles and tendons in the affected joint. When the ailment become severe, movement and everyday activities may not be possible for the patient and without early treatment can affect their lifestyle for the rest of their life.

Source: http://arthritispainreliefnews.com/blog/?p=42