Knee bursitis is inflammation of any one of the 11 bursae (plural of bursa) that are present in the Knee joint. Although Knee Bursitis scan affect anyone of the 11 bursae, it commonly involve bursa of kneecap or bursa that is located in the inner side of knee. One may be at risk of Developing Knee Bursitis, if one has any of the following risk factors,
- If your profession involves kneeling regularly (professions such as gardener, plumber, carpet layers etc.), you are at risk of developing knee bursitis.
- If you are into certain sports as a professional or as a hobby, you are at increased risk of knee bursitis. These sports (such as football, rugby, volleyball, wrestling etc.) involve frequent falls on knees, direct blow to knee. Runners, especially long distance runners are also at greater risk of developing knee bursitis.
- If you suffer from obesity, you are at risk of developing knee bursitis. Because obesity puts extra loan on the load bearing joints, including knee joints and the bursae that act as shock absorber may be overworked and inflammation may occur in the overworked bursae. Obesity along with osteoarthritis of knee increases the risk of developing knee bursitis further.
Diagnosis of knee bursitis:
Your doctor can easily diagnose knee bursitis by properly examining your problem. Your doctor will compare both knee, press and feel different areas of your knee to to check if there is pain, check range of motion at you knee joints etc. Your doctor may also ask for various tests to confirm diagnosis. These include,
- X-ray: it not possible to find inflamed bursae by X-ray. However, other bone problems such as fracture, arthritis, tumor etc. can be detected by this.
- Ultrasound: It can help in finding swelling in in inflamed bursae and help in diagnosis.
- MRI: this can be used to visualize the soft tissues such as bursae in your knee joint to find if they are enlarged and inflamed.
- If your doctor suspect there is any infection or your problem due to gout, he/she may ask for aspiration of bursae fluid and synovial fluid for testing in lab. This help in diagnosing the cause of knee bursitis.
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