Your Cart is Empty
Understanding pain
Understanding bursitis
Bursitis is when the fluid-filled sacs that cushion your joints become painful and swollen. It commonly affects the shoulders, hips, elbows or knees. Symptoms can include a dull, achy pain, tenderness, swelling and pain when you move or press the area. It may feel warmer than the surrounding skin. Redness can be harder to see on brown or black skin.
Bursitis can usually be treated at home and should improve in a few weeks. Some cases are caused by infection and need medical treatment. Do not assume that every painful or swollen joint is bursitis.
When to get medical help
Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 if you have joint pain and the skin around it is swollen and feels hot, or if you have joint pain and feel generally unwell, have a high temperature, or feel hot, cold or shivery.
See a GP if your bursitis symptoms have not improved or are getting worse after one to two weeks of self-care, if you cannot move the affected joint, or if you have very severe, sharp or shooting pains.
Go to A&E or call 999 if you have very bad joint pain after a fall or injury, cannot walk or put weight on a joint, your joint has moved out of place, or you have tingling or no feeling in the area around the joint after an injury.
Looking after the area
The NHS recommends resting the affected joint and avoiding activities that put pressure on it. Gently hold an ice pack wrapped in a tea towel against the area for around 10 minutes at a time, repeating every few hours during the day. Extra cushions around the joint while you sleep may help protect and support it.
Painkillers such as paracetamol or ibuprofen may help if they are suitable for you. Ask a pharmacist or GP which painkiller to take if you are unsure.
What a GP may do
A GP can examine the area and may arrange tests. Taking a sample of fluid with a needle, called aspiration, can help check for infection or gout and may also ease symptoms.
Treatment depends on the cause. It can include antibiotics for an infection, aspiration, or a steroid injection to reduce swelling. A steroid injection will not be given if bursitis is caused by an infection.
Persistent swelling around a joint, or symptoms that keep returning, deserve assessment to establish whether bursitis or another condition is responsible.
Massage guns and bursitis
A massage gun delivers repeated mechanical pressure. A bursa is a fluid-filled sac that cushions a joint, not muscle tissue.
The percussion review cited below does not establish that a massage gun treats bursitis or reduces inflammation inside a bursa. Its findings also do not establish that a massage gun is suitable for use on muscles near an affected bursa.
Do not use a massage gun on or close to the painful or swollen area. This is our precaution, informed by the NHS advice to avoid pressure on the affected area, not a bursitis-specific massage-gun trial result. Do not use a device instead of seeking medical help for the warning signs above.