Bursae are small sacks of synovial fluid in the body. They rest at places where muscles and tendons slide across a bone, providing a smooth, frictionless movement. Bursitis is a condition in which one of more of these bursae gets inflamed. When this happens, the movement that the affected bursa enables becomes painful and difficult. To make matters worse, when you move the muscles in that area, they rub against the bursa, making the problem even more acute. This may happen due to many reasons, but the primary one is repetitive use or overuse, or where too much pressure is applied on the joint. When the bursa swell, it may also reduce the space left for the joint to move.
Cure for Bursitis
Bursitis most often affects the knees, hips, elbow or shoulder. If the bursitis is not affected, then all it needs is some ice compresses, a little medication and a lot of rest. If it is infected, though, you’ll need to get it investigated and treated by a doctor. The best thing for bursitis is of course to not move the affected area.
Think of any illness as your body trying to give you a message. If your elbow is inflamed, your body is telling you that you’ve been doing something wrong with your elbow, and you should stop it. It’s also saying that it needs a break. You should obey your body and rest.
If you haven’t been practicing yoga from before, then this is no time to get started. Wait for the affected area to heal, and you can then start yoga. If you have been practicing yoga, the first question to ask yourself is whether the yoga itself caused the bursitis. Yoga is a science, and when practiced incorrectly, can be injurious. So consider if you’ve been executing
yoga asanas or
yoga poses with proper form and technique, and if not, work on correcting it.
If you know what caused the bursitis, though, and it isn’t the yoga, you can continue with your yoga practice. The only caveat is that you shouldn’t stress the joints that are affected. For instance, in the case of shoulder bursitis, you should avoid poses where the hands are raised above parallel to the floor. You should be able to do Virabhadrasana II (Warrior Pose II), Utthita Parsvakonasana (Extended Side Angle Pose), or Urdhva Hastasana (Upward Salute) without any pain. Try and avoid poses like Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Dog), Adho Mukha Vrksasana (Handstand), Pincha Mayurasana (Forearm Balance) or Salamba Sirsasana (Supported Headstand) till the pain subsides. Yoga differs from western exercise, in that you should never feel any pain, so listen to your body. You can also carry on with meditative and breathing techniques.
