Elbow Bursitis Diagnosis & Pain Management Specialist Doctors NYC
At Manhattan Pain and Sports Associates you will receive the elbow bursitis diagnosis, pain management, and medical care you need to reduce or eliminate your elbow bursitis pain. Because when you’re in pain — whether it’s from an accident, age, sporting injury, or ailment — you want relief quickly. Appropriate and targeted elbow bursitis pain management and treatment starts with a proper diagnosis from your NYC neck pain management specialist.
Elbow Bursitis (Olecranon Bursitis)
The condition known as “bursitis” occurs whenever bursae act up. Bursae are those very thin sacs that are slippery enough to serve as pillows between soft tissue and bones. The olecranon is the pointed bone at the end of your elbow, which relies on a bursa sac to keep the skin from rubbing against the bone.
A healthy elbow’s bursa sac is flat and smooth, holding just enough fluid to allow the bone to slide smoothly when you move your arm. When the bursa sac in your olecranon becomes inflamed or irritated, it may accumulate too much fluid, leading to olecranon bursitis, more conventionally known as elbow bursitis.
If you visit Manhattan Pain and Sports Associates complaining of elbow pain, you may not know (or even care) what’s causing the pain, only that it stops. Your elbow plays such an integral role in most everyday activities that elbow pain interferes with your life. Watch first for swelling; it’s usually one of the first signs that you’re developing bursitis.
The pain worsens as the swelling increases. It hurts more when you bend it or apply pressure to it. Your elbow may even get so large that you can’t even bend it. The area will become red and warm when the swelling is caused by infection. If not treated, the infection can spread to other parts of your body.
Causes of Elbow Bursitis
You typically develop an infection in your elbow after the skin has been broken in a trauma of some kind. Your NYC pain management specialist may ask you about any cuts or scrapes you recently had, or if you’ve sustained bug bites recently. If no outside source is found, further tests may reveal other causes of the swelling, such as:
- Long periods of pressure. Many NYC jobs call for you to lean on your elbows often during the day (or you do it as a habit). Bursa sacs normally don’t like that kind of daily pressure and often react with painful swelling.
- Trauma that doesn’t result in an open wound. Sometimes, just bumping or banging your elbow can traumatize the bursa sac so that it becomes swollen and turns into bursitis.
- Infection from inside. Infections moving through your blood stream from another can end up in the fluid inside the olecranon sac and cause swelling.
- Other medical conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis, can cause fluid build-up in and around your joints.
Your NYC Pain Management Doctor Investigates
Tell your doctor about any injuries you’ve sustained, if you lean on your elbows during work and if that’s avoidable or not. Also pass on any information about other illnesses you may have. You never know what might be related.
Draining the excess fluid right in the office is an option if your bursitis is due to an infection. Removing the fluid leads to immediate relief. Your doctor might suggest elbow pads if your bursitis is work-related. Any kind of surgery to relieve your pain can be done in the office on an outpatient basis.
Get the Pain Relief You Need
Your NYC elbow bursitis pain management doctor’s goal is to get you back to your normal routine with minimal downtime. After your elbow bursitis diagnosis is confirmed, your doctor begins your elbow bursitis pain management and treatment plan with the most conservative pain relief treatment. You’ll always receive non-invasive pain relief before your doctor turns to more invasive procedures like surgery.
Manhattan Pain and Sports Associates
51 East 25th St, 4th Floor, Ste B
New York, NY 10010
(212) 533-3954
