Bursitis in my elbow

[AngelaVA]

I have bursitis in my elbow. It may be related to an injury this winter (I fell on the stairs at my in laws landed on my butt and my elbow, it was bruised for about 6 weeks but worked ok) but then on Thursday I reached down to pick something up and suddenly this horrible burning. Instead of the smooth bump of my elbow bone it's all bumpy and strange in that area. It's mostly sort of numb until it will start to hurt really bad if it's bumped or I rest it on something or bend or extend it all the way. Dr I saw at urgent care suggested a 600 mg dose of ibuprofen every 8 hours for a week to see if I can avoid having to get a steroid injection. The ibuprofen is giving me a lot of stomach upset though. WWYD?

[ArmsOfLove]

if the ibuprofen is upsetting your stomach please stop. I cannot do any nasal's because of damage to my stomach

Two things you might want to try:

1) California Poppy tincture - we get it at Sprouts. Non-narcotic cousin of the opiate poppy that helps with pain

2) Hyland's Leg Cramps pain cream - they might have it for other "joints' but we've used it on everything and it helps with the swelling and the pain

There are some other effective things like Traumeel - but make sure to use the cream because for some reason we find that the creams work a lot better than the gels.

I'm sorry you're in pain heart

---------- Post added at 10:52 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:47 AM ----------

You can also look up PT exercises on YouTube. I would encourage you to do EVERYTHING you can to avoid the steroid shot. I can pm with you about what I'm dealing with after 2 shots to my knee to try and avoid surgery. I'm doubling my efforts on the other stuff because I do not want surgery but I will *not* do another shot.

[mamacat]

I have a bursitis elbow prob too that easily gets re injured by bumping or trying to open jars too tight. I do find magnesium helpful and try to remember to use Magnesium gel on it.I also find that wearing a support helps. http://www.amazon.com/Vital-Silver--...=elbow+support I cant do steroids or NSAIDS

[AngelaVA]

Thanks so much for the ideas. I will give them a try. Will it be able to heal on it's own without the anti inflammatories do you think? I was under the impression that it would just continue to swell if I didn't take the ibuprofen.

[Atsirk]

I have lots of joint issues/ongoing pain. I use Biofreeze and it is one of the only things that helps with the pain. I refuse to do steroid shots anymore.

[ArmsOfLove]

Originally Posted by AngelaVA

Thanks so much for the ideas. I will give them a try. Will it be able to heal on it's own without the anti inflammatories do you think? I was under the impression that it would just continue to swell if I didn't take the ibuprofen.

The cream i mentioned should help with the swelling. Ibuprofen is only one thing that helps with swelling. And it can heal even without something, but it's more painful and ime that makes it harder to keep from reinsuring it.

[kiloyd]

Biofreeze is good.

Ice it! 10-15 minutes at a time, several times a day.

See if a chiropractor or acupuncturist can help.

[rjy9343]

Arnica gel is another good thing for swelling and tenderness. I have bursitis in my knee and have to watch what I eat. It sounds so clichéd right now, but gluten and sugar are the two worst offenders for making it hurt. I don't avoid them altogether, but I do go easy on them. Corn is another one I have to watch. I avoid that one only because Ivy is allergic to corn so I don't even have it in the house.

[AugustMama]

There are several essential oils that are anti-inflammatory.

[mamacat]

Was also going to come back and suggest the icing it.It helps so much.I dont always take time to do that but really brings down swelling and inflammation and pain