You can prevent bursitis from developing or recurring by taking steps at home, work, and during activities to promote healing and protect your bursae.

Home treatment for bursitis includes the following strategies:

• Rest the affected area and avoid any activity or direct pressure that may cause pain. Get enough sleep. To maintain your overall health and fitness, continue exercising but only in ways that do not stress the affected area. Do not resume an aggravating activity as soon as the pain stops. When you resume normal activities, change the way you do the activity that caused the pain and tenderness.
• Apply ice or cold packs as soon as you notice pain and tenderness in your muscles or near a joint. Apply ice 10 to 15 minutes at a time, as often as twice an hour, for 72 hours. Continue applying ice (15 to 20 minutes at a time, 3 times a day) as long as it relieves pain. Although heating pads may feel good, ice will relieve pain and inflammation.
• Take pain relievers. Use acetaminophen, or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen, naproxen, or aspirin, as directed for pain relief and to reduce bursitis inflammation. (Do not give aspirin to anyone younger than age 20 because of the risk of Reye's syndrome, a central nervous system complication in children.) Do not rely on medication to relieve pain in order to continue overusing a joint.
• Do range-of-motion exercises each day. If your bursitis is in or near a joint, gently move your joint through its full range of motion, even during the time that you are resting the joint area. This will prevent stiffness in your joint. As the pain goes away, continue range-of-motion exercises and add other exercises to strengthen the muscles around your joint. A physical therapist, an athletic trainer, or your health professional can teach you specific exercises for strengthening the shoulder, elbow, wrist, hip, knee, or ankle.
• Gradually resume your activity at a lower intensity than you maintained before your symptoms began. Warm up before and stretch after the activity. Increase your activity slowly, and stop if it hurts. After the activity, apply ice to prevent pain and swelling.
• Avoid tobacco smoke. Smoking impairs collagen production, which is necessary for wound and tissue healing.¹

To prevent bursitis from developing or happening again:

• Evaluate and change daily activities that tend to aggravate your symptoms. Change activities involving repeated movements that may strain your muscles or joints. For example, start alternating hands or change the grip size of your tool. Sitting in one position for long periods may also cause bursitis. If you sit at a desk for long periods, get up and walk around every hour.
  • If you suspect that certain activities at your workplace are causing bursitis, talk to your human resources department for information on alternative ways of doing your job, equipment modifications, or other job assignments.
  • If a certain sport is causing bursitis, consider taking lessons to learn proper techniques. Have an athletic trainer or person who is familiar with sports equipment check your equipment to ensure that it is well suited to your size, strength, and ability. Demonstrate how you use your equipment, and ask for feedback about any mistakes you might be making.
• Protect your joints and pressure areas. Bursitis that is caused by pressure may be prevented by sitting or kneeling on a cushion, not resting your elbows on hard surfaces such as desks, and wearing supportive shoes that fit you well.

Specific tips

See the following for more ideas on how to ease problems in specific areas:

• Shoulder pain
• Elbow pain
• Hip pain
• Knee pain
• Heel pain