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What is elbow bursitis?

Your elbow bursa is a fluid-filled sack near the tip of your elbow that cushions your skin and other soft tissues from your bone. The fluid inside the bursa helps your tissue move easily over the bone. Your bursa can become irritated or inflamed and swell up with more fluid, causing pain.

Other symptoms of elbow bursitis include swelling of your elbow and stiffness or pain within your elbow joint. Your elbow may appear red or feel tender when touched. Overuse or overexertion of your joint can increase inflammation, causing bursitis.

Bursitis can also occur from physical trauma to your elbow, like a hard hit or extended pressure from your elbow sitting on a hard surface. People with certain health conditions like gout and rheumatoid arthritis are more susceptible to bursitis.

If bacteria enter a wound at your elbow, an infection can occur in your bursa. The infection produces excess fluid, swelling, and pain in your elbow.

Should you drain elbow bursitis?

Will elbow bursitis drain on its own?

What kind of doctor treats elbow bursitis?

What is the fastest way to heal elbow bursitis?

What happens if elbow bursitis goes untreated?

* Savings estimate based on a study of more than 1 billion claims comparing self-pay (or cash pay) prices of a frequency-weighted market basket of procedures to insurer-negotiated rates for the same. Claims were collected between July 2017 and July 2019. R.Lawrence Van Horn, Arthur Laffer, Robert L.Metcalf. 2019. The Transformative Potential for Price Transparency in Healthcare: Benefits for Consumers and Providers. Health Management Policy and Innovation, Volume 4, Issue 3.

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