Bursitis vs. Tendinitis vs. Arthritis
If you feel pain or inflammation in your joints, there is a possibility you may have either arthritis, tendonitis, or bursitis. Figuring out which you have will help you and your doctor create the best treatment plan for your symptoms. Joint pain is discomfort, aches, and soreness felt within any of the body’s joints. Joints are where different bones meet. They allow the bones to move and are found in the shoulders, hips, elbows, and knees.
Bursitis and Tendinitis
Bursitis and tendinitis share a lot of characteristics. They are also known as soft tissue rheumatic syndromes, including signs and symptoms that occur together and reveal a particular problem. Most people inflicted with these syndromes experience pain, swelling, or inflammation in the tissues and structures near and around a joint, like tendons, ligaments, bursae, and muscles.
Tendons, cord-like structures, are located where a muscle narrows down and attaches to a bone. The tendon is more stringy and dense than the more flexible muscle tissue. It conducts the pull of the muscle to the bone, which causes movement.
Tendinitis or bursitis usually affects the shoulder, elbow, wrist, hip, knee, or ankle. The pain may be quite severe and usually occurs suddenly. Tendinitis is often caused by an acute injury or repetitive motion (it is common in construction workers, those who play sports, or those who sit at a desk for work). Though the problem can be chronic, it can be healed quickly, usually if treated early.
Bursitis is inflammation of a bursa, which is a tiny sac that acts as a cushion between moving structures like bones, muscles, tendons, or skin. When a bursa is healthy, it protects these structures from fraying and stress if a muscle or tendon pulls over a bone. When a bursa is inflamed, it becomes excruciating, even during rest. While bursae are important to helping tendons slide over bones, not all tendons have a bursa. It forms where bony protrusions appear, typically the shoulder, the outside of the hip, or the kneecap.
Arthritis
The areas where tendinitis and bursitis occur are near joints. This pain is often mistaken for arthritis. The main difference between these three conditions is the root cause of the inflammation. Arthritis is inflammation within the joint itself, while bursitis and other rheumatic syndromes cause inflammation in the tissues and structures around a joint. Arthritis is marked by inflammation in the joints. It causes stiffness, pain, and makes basic movements difficult.
While there is no cure for arthritis, many treatment options are available to hinder the progress of the disease and relieve symptoms. If you get proper treatment on time, many people with arthritis can manage the pain, stay active, and live their life to the fullest.
Arthritis Symptoms
Cell Therapy can help provide new cells to degenerated regions of tendons and joints in the wrist and hand, helping to reduce pain, improve mobility, and do so with an easier and faster recovery and significantly fewer complications. At Granite Bay Stem Cell Therapy Solutions in Roseville, we use patients’ regenerative cells to help repair the damaged tissues and joints naturally. If you are interested in learning more about this treatment, give us a call today at (916) 713-5050.
