Bursitis Physical Therapy

Without our bone joints, we would not have been able to move our limbs freely. Joints are what help us move and if it was not for our complicated structure of joints, probably we would not have qualified strongly as a superior species. Nevertheless, the point I want to emphasize is that healthy joints are extremely important for our well-being. Any problem with our joints has the capacity to make our lives miserable. Bursitis is one of such problems which affects our joints. It is the inflammation of a small sack in our joints which contains the fluid which lubricates the joints. It also acts as a cushion between bone or muscle, tendons and skin. As it affects the joints, it immediately needs tending. One aspect of the treatment for this problem is physical therapy.

Physical Therapy for Hip Bursitis

For this, once the doctor gives you the permission to engage in exercising, you can go for cycling or walking. Exercises for trochanteric bursitis should be done on flat surfaces and not for long stretches. Also warming up and cooling down sessions are essential. Other exercises you can do is the piriformis muscle stretch. Piriformis helps in controlling the movement of the hip muscle, therefore it is necessary to keep that muscle pain free as much as possible. For this exercise - here is what you would need to do-

• First lie on your back with your knees bent and feet on the floor.
• Raising the leg on the side of the affected hip, cross that leg over the other.
• Stretch the crossed leg over the uncrossed just below the knee.
• Then pull it towards your chest slowly.
• Stretch the muscle as much as you can without straining it.
• Hold it for 15 seconds and then relax.
• 3 repetitions of this would be good enough.

Amongst others, what can be done is simple leg raises by lying on your back and raising your leg 6 - 8 inches above the ground and holding it there for a few seconds. It would be great if you can do 3 sets of 10 such raises, for good results.

Physical Therapy for Shoulder Bursitis

Exercise #1

• Bend at the waist and let the affected arm hang down at your side.
• Move your body back and forth and create small circles of the affected shoulder using the weight of your arm and the gravitational force.
• Use this method to move your arm in clockwise and counter clockwise circular motions.

Exercise #2

• Start off with standing against a wall sideways, with your elbow at a 90 degree angle.
• Place the outer part of your forearm against the wall.
• Contracting your muscles, press the arms into the wall, but keep your shoulders fixed.
• Hold for 5 seconds and do 5 repetitions of this.
• After this, position the inside of your forearm against the wall and repeat what was done earlier.

Exercise #3

• This will strengthen the rotator cuff. Lie on your stomach on your bed.
• With one arm out at shoulder level, bend your elbow at 90 degrees and keep your hand down.
• With your elbow bent gradually, raise your hand.
• Stop when your hand reaches your shoulder level.
• Bring the hand down gradually and repeat with the other hand.

In addition to these, other remedies includes massages and hot and cold compress. What kind of exercises are decided upon, also depends on how the individual takes it. Some might find cold or hot compress in tandem with exercises more effective, while some maybe just fine with a simple massage or acupressure accompanied by light exercises.