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What Is Bursitis?
Bursitis is inflammation of thebursae, which are fluid-filled sacs near the joints. The bursae cushion bones, tendons, and muscles to reduce joint friction and inflammation. They can become inflamed from overuse, prolonged postures, or inflammatory conditions.
A person’s risk for bursitis increases with advancing age. Repetitive motions and putting pressure on certain joints—such as during sports, manual labor, or playing a musical instrument—can increase the risk. Pressure on specific parts of your body, such as from kneeling, can also increase the risk of bursitis. Medical conditions like arthritis,gout,diabetes, and thyroid disease are also risk factors for bursitis. Occasionally, a sudden injury or infection can cause bursitis.
Activities that can lead to bursitis include:
Locations
Symptoms
Bursitis can cause pain and discomfort in the affected joint, and oftentimes causes stabbing pain during movement or when the area is touched.
Other symptoms include:
What is Arthritis?
Arthritis encompasses more than 100 diseases. The chief symptom is usually joint pain.It typically causes inflammation in more than one joint in the body, resulting in swelling, stiffness, pain, and a limited range of motion that worsens over time.
The different types of arthritis have different causes.
Rheumatoid Arthritis
RA is anautoimmune disease, in which the immune system attacks healthy cells in the body. RA mainly attacks the joints, usually many at once.It commonly affects joints in the hands, wrists, and knees. With RA, the lining of the joint becomes inflamed, causing damage to joint tissue, which can lead to chronic pain, deformity, and limitations in motion.
RA symptoms include joint pain, swelling, stiffness, fatigue, and low-grade fever. RA can also affect other tissues throughout the body and cause problems in organs such as the lungs, heart, and eyes.
Risk Factors of Rheumatoid Arthritis
Osteoarthritis
OA is the most common form of arthritis, most often seen in adults over 65 years of age.Because of its association with age, it is often referred to as degenerative joint disease or “wear and tear” arthritis.It occurs most frequently in the hands, hips, and knees.
With OA, the cartilage within a joint begins to break down and the underlying bone begins to change.OA can cause pain, stiffness, and swelling. In some cases, it causes reduced function and disability.
How Osteoarthritis Is Diagnosed
How Arthritis and Bursitis are Similar
Arthritis and bursitis are similar in various ways. The conditions have many overlapping symptoms and affect the same locations in the body—which sometimes makes it difficult to differentiate them.
Both conditions can cause:
The conditions also affect similar locations, including:
They also both have the potential to affect other areas.
How Arthritis and Bursitis are Different
The key difference between the two conditions is the exact location of the inflammation. In arthritis, it is in the joint, whereas bursitis is in the bursae. Arthritis and bursitis are also different in pathology, onset, and how long they last.
While it is true that arthritis and bursitis can affect the same joints, when it comes down to the most common joints affected, there is some difference. Arthritis is most common in the knees, hips, and small joints, whereas bursitis is most common in the shoulders, hips, elbows, and knees.
Onset
Bursitis can come on suddenly and is usually an acute condition. On the other hand, arthritis is typically a gradual, progressive disease (with few exceptions, such asseptic arthritis, a rapidly progressive infection).
Length of Condition
Arthritis joint damage is often permanent. Bursitis is a short-term irritation that doesn’t create lasting damage unless physical stress persists in the area.
How Arthritis and Bursitis are Diagnosed
Bursitis is usually diagnosed with a physical examination. If you have another bursitis flare-up or signs of an infection, your provider may order:
For a diagnosis of arthritis, your healthcare provider will take a medical history and do a physical exam to find the effect of the pain on your ability to function and the cause of your pain. You may have x-rays or other imaging procedures, such as a CT scan or MRI to examine the extent of joint damage.
A Word From Verywell
In order to get these conditions, arthritis or bursitis, under control, it is best to get medical attention sooner than later. Diagnosis and treatment will make for a quick recovery in bursitis and a slower progression of arthritis.
What Is The Difference Between Arthritis and Bursitis?
5 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Cleveland Clinic.Bursitis.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Arthritis basics.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Rheumatoid arthritis.Cibrián Uhalte E, Wilkinson JM, Southam L, Zeggini E. Pathways to understanding the genomic aetiology of osteoarthritis. Hum Mol Genet. 2017;26(R2):R193-R201. doi:10.1093/hmg/ddx302Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Osteoarthritis (OA).
5 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Cleveland Clinic.Bursitis.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Arthritis basics.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Rheumatoid arthritis.Cibrián Uhalte E, Wilkinson JM, Southam L, Zeggini E. Pathways to understanding the genomic aetiology of osteoarthritis. Hum Mol Genet. 2017;26(R2):R193-R201. doi:10.1093/hmg/ddx302Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Osteoarthritis (OA).
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Cleveland Clinic.Bursitis.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Arthritis basics.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Rheumatoid arthritis.Cibrián Uhalte E, Wilkinson JM, Southam L, Zeggini E. Pathways to understanding the genomic aetiology of osteoarthritis. Hum Mol Genet. 2017;26(R2):R193-R201. doi:10.1093/hmg/ddx302Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Osteoarthritis (OA).
Cleveland Clinic.Bursitis.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Arthritis basics.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Rheumatoid arthritis.
Cibrián Uhalte E, Wilkinson JM, Southam L, Zeggini E. Pathways to understanding the genomic aetiology of osteoarthritis. Hum Mol Genet. 2017;26(R2):R193-R201. doi:10.1093/hmg/ddx302
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Osteoarthritis (OA).
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