Don’t Let Bursitis Cause Holiday Blues

The holidays are supposed to be a time of joy, family, and fun. More often than not, unfortunately, they’re a time of great stress and discomfort as people prepare to travel or to welcome guests. There’s baking and decorating and gift-buying and cleaning and lots of running around to last-minute errands, parties, and other events. You don’t want to add pain from bursitis to the mix making it harder for you to get that last minute shopping or baking done. The good news is that understanding the causes of bursitis can help you prevent it and avoid foot pain-induced holiday blues.

Bursitis is inflammation in a bursa sac. This little sac is found around your joints. It’s a fluid-filled cushion that helps reduce friction between moving parts. Unfortunately, excessive pressure or overuse can actually cause inflammation in them, creating pain whenever your use that joint. In your feet, this is most common in your heel, where you have a bursa between your Achilles tendon and your heel bone. However, this can happen in other joints around your lower limbs, too.

The most common causes of this injury are repetitive movements, overuse, and extended periods of pressure on the cushion. Even age and sudden injuries can have an impact, too. The older you get, the more your bursa breaks down and becomes susceptible to damage over time. A sudden injury can cause a problem in the bursa as well.

Repetitive motions and overuse subject the bursa to stress over and over again, frequently enough that it doesn’t have enough time to recover. In both situations, the bursa becomes inflamed because it doesn’t have enough time to rest. This is especially common in sports and other athletic activities. Extended pressure pinches and aggravates the bursa, causing damage over time. This is particularly common when you wear the wrong shoes that pinch your heels or other areas of your lower limbs.

Knowing the most common reasons people develop bursitis can help you avoid it. If you do develop foot pain this holiday season, however, the important thing is to address it right away. Don’t wait. Our team at Gulf South Foot & Ankle, LLC will help you eliminate your bursitis and give you relief from your pain. Don’t wait! Call our Metairie, LA, office at (504) 708-4810, or use our online contact forms.