Some car accident injuries are more easily recognizable and well-known, like back pain, whiplash, broken bones, cuts, and bruises. One type of car accident injury you might not be as familiar with is bursitis. In fact, bursitis pain is more often associated with repetitive or overuse injuries in the joint, so you might not connect the pain to your recent car accident experience. When you visit a car accident doctor, they will want to know about any pain you have been experiencing, where you notice the pain, along with the frequency and severity. Joint pain can be caused by a number of issues, and one of those is bursitis. Learn more about bursitis pain and how you can experience lasting relief from this painful condition.
What Is Bursitis?
Bursitis is a type of health condition that affects the bursa sac in the joints. Bursa sacs are filled with fluid and help to provide the joint with cushion and protection as the bones and soft tissues work together. The more common cause of bursitis pain is due to repetitive movements and overuse, like with tennis elbow. However, a sudden injury to the joint can also disrupt the bursa sac in a particular joint and cause pain and discomfort. Common symptoms of bursitis include pain and tenderness in a specific joint, along with inflammation, swelling, and tenderness. If you are struggling with bursitis, then you may have trouble with certain movements causing you more pain than usual.
Where Can Bursitis Occur?
Bursitis can occur in any of the joints in the body with a bursa sac, including the shoulder, elbow, hip, and knee joints. Overuse injuries like tennis elbow and golf elbow refer to bursitis in the elbow joint. You can even experience bursitis in the most surprising of places, like the heel of your foot or in the base of your big toe. There are several bursae that make up some joints, like the hip and knee joints. Damage or overuse can affect one or all of these and cause aches and stiffness when you move those parts of the body. However, any joint can become damaged during a car accident, whether due to a blow to the area or because of how the force of impact jostled and jolted the body around.
How Can a Car Accident Cause Bursitis Pain?
Extreme pressure and stress on a joint can affect the fluid in the bursa sac and cause instability and pain in one of your joints. Trauma to a joint can cause sudden inflammation and swelling in the joint, which can increase your pain and discomfort. A joint injury due to a car accident can also make certain movements too painful or cause you to avoid certain movements altogether. If you experience disabling joint pain and redness or swelling after a car accident, then you should visit a car accident doctor as soon as possible.
How a Car Accident Doctor Can Help with Bursitis
When you experience joint pain after a car accident, your car accident doctor will want to perform a physical examination of the affected area. They may also want to run diagnostic imaging tests like a CT scan or MRI to get a more detailed look at your joint and determine the root cause of your pain. An X-ray or ultrasound can also be used to rule out other possible injuries with similar symptoms. Once your doctor has diagnosed you with bursitis, they may recommend certain at-home remedies like resting and applying ice to the inflamed, tender area. Certain pain medications may help to temporarily mask the pain, though it is important to know that they do not treat the source of the pain. In some cases, your car accident doctor may recommend additional treatment to ensure you do not develop chronic pain or any other complications after the car accident. A car accident doctor may recommend non-invasive and conservative approaches at first, like exercises and physical therapy, to help strengthen muscles that support and stabilize the joint. In some cases, your doctor may recommend injections or surgery.
To learn more about whether or not your pain is bursitis, visit a car accident doctor at AICA Orthopedics in Conyers. Our team of car accident doctors can provide you with an initial examination, diagnosis, diagnostic imaging tests, and treatment, all in one convenient location.