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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staff
Bursitis is a painful condition that affects the small fluid-filled pads — called bursae — that act as cushions among your bones and the tendons and muscles near your joints. Bursitis occurs when a bursa becomes inflamed.
The most common locations for bursitis are in the shoulders, elbows or hips. But you can also have bursitis by your knee, heel and the base of your big toe. Bursitis often occurs in joints that perform frequent repetitive motion.
Treatment typically involves resting the affected joint and protecting it from further trauma. In most cases, bursitis pain goes away within a few weeks with proper treatment, but recurrent flare-ups of bursitis are common.
- Sheon RP. Bursitis: An overview of clinical manifestations, diagnosis and management. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed July 17, 2009.
- Koutouzis T, et al. Tendinopathy and bursitis. In: Marx JA, et al. Rosen's Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice. 6th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier: 2006. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/150230519-3/863979815/1365/357.html#4-u1.0-B0-323-02845-4..50120-7--cesec26_5866. Accessed July 17, 2009.
- Wong AL, et al. Bursitis, tendonitis, myofascial pain and fibromyalgia. In: Rakel RE, et al. Conn's Current Therapy 2008. 60th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2008. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/151179629-3/866218324/1621/495.html#4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-4435-2..50249-1--cesec14_3920. Accessed July 20, 2009.
- Questions and answers about bursitis and tendonitis. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. http://www.niams.nih.gov/Health_Info/Bursitis/default.asp. Accessed July 21, 2009.
- Tendonitis/Bursitis. American College of Rheumatology. http://www.rheumatology.org/public/factsheets/diseases_and_conditions/tendonitis.asp. Accessed July 21, 2009.
