Thread: Bursitis anyone?

I have been having pain in my shoulder blade for about three months now. I ignored it for a while figuring that it was just a pulled muscle or a pinched nerve. Then, it didn't get better, just worse so I took three weeks off from dancing to see if that would help. No go. I went to the doctor yesterday and he thinks that I have bursitis. We are still waiting on the x-rays and specialist to look at them before it is official tho.

Long story short, are there any dancers out there with this problem? How do you handle it? Ibuprofen is no longer helping. I know that once things are official there are steroid options but I am not a really big fan of them. It is a constant pain at this point so I welcome all suggestions.

I've had bursitis in both a hip and a knee. The problem with bursitis is that unless you have a savvy Dr., it can be dismissed as osteoarthritis-the pain is much the same. The main difference is in location and range of motion: although it's painful a bursitic joint can go thru the full range (although it may take the Dr/therapist's help to do so!) but an arthritic joint is damaged and can't.

The other problem kind of depends on your age! That is, by middle-age most of us have some degeneration that shows up on X-ray and a on specialist physician may dismiss bursitis as wear and tear and not treat the underlying problem.

Since you've already had bursitis diagnosed-you've missed those two problems. Your Doctor will be the one with the right, specific treatment, but here's my experience:

The hip (caused by severe arthritis in my feet-my gait was very bad) was dealt with by means of a serious stretching regimen. I had sessions with a physical therapist for several weeks and the pain eased a great deal.

The knee got a cortisone shot. Which, BTW, hurts a LOT! (I screamed a lot-and I've had cortisone injections in my elbow and didn't). The advantage: the pain is relieved almost immediately.

Good luck! Bursitis beats heck out of arthritis because it's fixable...g.:

Oh yea, I have arthritis as well, but not in my shoulder. Can you believe that I am only 32? My chart would indicate that I am at least 60.

Hi Linny! I've had both tennis elbow (which is a form of bursitis) and bursitis in my hip. So maybe I can offer some thoughts.

If ibuprofen isn't working for you, you could consider Alleve. That is the brand name for over-the-counter naproxen. It is what my doctor steered me to many years ago when I was first diagnosed with my hip bursitis, and it has brought me much relief over the years. But caution - like ibuprofen, it is an NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug), and as such has many of the same risks and potential side effects. If you decide to try it, please take a moment to chat with the pharmacist at your drugstore to ask about those.

First, one POSSIBLE cause of bursitis may be repetitive stress. That was the case with my tennis elbow. I had injured my foot on the opposite side of the body, and had been using my arms to hoist myself out of chairs. That in turn caused tennis elbow in the opposing arm. The instant my doctor diagnosed my arm pain as tennis elbow, I started thinking about what kind of repetitive stress I might be putting on it. It took me a month to figure out what I was doing and break the habitual behavior, but I did it. It took another three months for the pain to go away after that.

My doctor had offered me a cortisone shot, but I declined. I find steroids scary because they kinda-sorta kill the nerves in the area where they are injected. I want to keep my nerve function intact, even if it temporarily means pain! I feel it's more important to solve it by identifying and fixing the root cause and giving my body time to heal.

In conclusion, I suggest being very conscious of your behavior. Every thing you move your arm in any way at all, think about your shoulder and pay attention to whether your movement is placing stress on the area that hurts. Over time, you should be able to identify behavior patterns, and your next step will be to break the habit of that behavior. Give it at least a month just to identify the behavior and stop doing it. Give it another three months for the healing to occur.

Now, on to my other bout with bursitis, the one in my hip. I have never had a doctor explicitly validate what I'm about to say, but I"ll tell you what I believe. My belief is based on the fact that I've had this issue since I was 13, and sometimes I've been able to go for years without it hurting. I've observed certain correlations between the pain and other factors in my body.

It appears that my hip bursitis will act up when I am having particularly tight muscles in my hip and upper leg. So I listen to my body, and when I notice those muscles starting to become tight, I go to a massage therapist to loosen them up. I also use heat (heating pad, hot baths, etc.) to help loosen them up. The pattern seems to be that so long as I proactively prevent the muscles from tightening too intensely, I can avoid pain. But if I neglect it and allow the muscles to knot up too badly, then I'll have the bursitis pain.

In conclusion, once again, listen to your body. Start with a massage and ask the therapist to concentrate on your upper back on that side, your upper arm, and your pectoral minors. During the massage, pay attention to where the worst knots seem to be. Later, put heat on it. Look for ways to stretch the area that seems to have the worst knots. Repeat all of these until the tight spot loosens up.

I had bursitis in my knee three/four months ago. My doctor prescribed diclofenac (Diclofenac - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia), but also suggested I might want to try using Ibuprofen, first, to see if that would be effective before going for the stronger prescription drug. I tried the Ibuprofen before the diclofenac, and it worked ok for me in easing the pain as well as reducing the inflammation, so I didn't bother with the prescription.

Originally Posted by *Shira*

Now, on to my other bout with bursitis, the one in my hip. I have never had a doctor explicitly validate what I'm about to say, but I"ll tell you what I believe. My belief is based on the fact that I've had this issue since I was 13, and sometimes I've been able to go for years without it hurting. I've observed certain correlations between the pain and other factors in my body.

It appears that my hip bursitis will act up when I am having particularly tight muscles in my hip and upper leg. So I listen to my body, and when I notice those muscles starting to become tight, I go to a massage therapist to loosen them up. I also use heat (heating pad, hot baths, etc.) to help loosen them up. The pattern seems to be that so long as I proactively prevent the muscles from tightening too intensely, I can avoid pain. But if I neglect it and allow the muscles to knot up too badly, then I'll have the bursitis pain.

In conclusion, once again, listen to your body. Start with a massage and ask the therapist to concentrate on your upper back on that side, your upper arm, and your pectoral minors. During the massage, pay attention to where the worst knots seem to be. Later, put heat on it. Look for ways to stretch the area that seems to have the worst knots. Repeat all of these until the tight spot loosens up.

Hmmm....I do carry an awful lot of tension in my upper back. It isn't really my shoulder perse but the shoulder blade. My upper back is frequently very tight. This in combo with really working my veil and arms lately could have led to this.
I am sitting at this moment with one of those heat wrap things on my back I bought at the grocery store last night. It seems to be helping a bit. I think I will ask my doc about coverage for theraputic massage....it might work!

Originally Posted by Linnyg

Hmmm....I do carry an awful lot of tension in my upper back. It isn't really my shoulder perse but the shoulder blade. My upper back is frequently very tight. This in combo with really working my veil and arms lately could have led to this.
I am sitting at this moment with one of those heat wrap things on my back I bought at the grocery store last night. It seems to be helping a bit. I think I will ask my doc about coverage for theraputic massage....it might work!

Mmmm, this could be the culprit. In my experience with this, it wasn't the joint itself that held the tension, it was nearby muscle groups that kind of pulled my leg into a position it found objectionable.

You may want to ask someone knowledgeable about body mechanics to scruitinize your veil and arm work and see whether there's something about your technique that could be causing this problem. Maybe a physical therapist or exercise physiologist. That is a plausible explanation of the cause. And of course, don't overdo when you're practicing. Take breaks, give your muscles time to build up the strength and flexibility, don't push too hard.

Do tell your doctor about the veil and arm work, and ask to be referred to a physical therapist or exercise physiologist to have them evaluate your movement.