Heal Your Bursitis Without Steroid Injections

Is Joint Pain Slowing You Down?

It could be bursitis—an often-overlooked condition that affects millions. In this edition, discover what causes bursitis, how to manage the pain, and the best ways to prevent flare-ups. Let’s get you back to moving pain-free!

Before we dive into bursitis, let's first get a better understanding of the hip.  Bursitis can occur in other area, such as the shoulder, but for today we're focusing on the hip.  The principles will apply to all areas of bursitis.

The greater trochanter is a common area of bursitis.  As you can see in the diagram, it's a central location for muscles and connective tissue to connect.  The Iliotibial band (IT band) is of great importance.  You have to consider why the bursitis began in the first place and it usually has to do with the functionality of the surrounding tissues.  

Bursitis occurs when the small, fluid-filled sacs called bursae, which cushion the bones, tendons, and muscles around your joints, become inflamed. This can lead to pain, swelling, and difficulty moving the affected area.

As you can see the bursa sack lies between the greater trochanter bone and the gluteus maximus muscle.  The IT band runs over the top of this area stabilizing the knees and hips.  

Common Causes

Bursitis is often caused by repetitive motions or positions that put pressure on your joints. It can occur in the shoulders, elbows, hips, or knees. Here are a few common triggers:

Overuse: Repeated movement in activities like gardening, running, or even typing can lead to bursitis.

Injury: A direct hit to the joint can irritate the bursae and cause inflammation.

Age & Arthritis: As we age, joint wear-and-tear or pre-existing conditions like arthritis can increase the risk.

Symptoms to Watch Out For

• Sharp or aching joint pain
• Swelling and tenderness around the joint
• Stiffness when moving the affected area
• Warmth or redness in severe cases

Treatment and Prevention

In determining the best plan of care, first you must identify what caused the bursitis to begin with.  I prefer a root cause approach and once the trigger has been identified, what can be done to stop the trigger.

Personally, my left hip bursitis has flared up.  It took a few days for me to identify the trigger.  You see, I have a new puppy.  His name is Cooper.

In order for him to stop nibbling on my toes while sitting in my recliner, I started bringing my left knee up to my chest and tucking my right foot underneath.  This helped resolve the nibbling problem, but quickly caused other problems.  Having my knee bent that much while sitting put too much strain on my IT band and where I felt the pain was in my hip.  The fascia is amazing, isn't it?  It didn't take very long for my fascia to remodel and as a result turn on pain and inflammation in my hip and bursa sac.  

What did I do to fix it?

Time to get out my soft foam roller and work to release the adhesions that formed in my fascia around my IT band, glutes, hips, hamstrings, and quads.  It has taken no time at all to get be on track with my very active and healthy lifestyle.  

No steroid injections here.  I'll never get one of those again because now I have the tools to heal my body myself.  

Will all your pain go away overnight?  No.  It takes time, patience, and consistency to heal the fascia.  Once the adhesions are removed, everything comes back into alignment and functions like it is supposed to.  

Interested in learning more about how to heal your fascia?  I'm creating an online course with live coaching calls to teach you the same techniques that I use every day.  Classes will begin in January 2025. 

Click here to join the email list to get notification when enrollment begins for the first 12-week session.

Stay supply!

Nicole