Patients with chronic bursitis should become detectives,
ferreting out their particular causes of trouble. For example, a typist
noticed that her attacks of shoulder bursitis developed in late spring, and she
could trace them to the fact that the air conditioning was turned on then and
she worked directly in the path of the cold air stream.
Another person found
that his attacks decreased markedly when he gave up being a fresh-air
enthusiast in winter and kept his bedroom windows almost completely closed.
Some persons must modify their work or sports activities to prevent the pain
of chronic bursitis. Sometimes in chronic bursitis, if pain and disability
justify it, surgery may be used to remove deposits of calcium material which
collect in some chronically inflamed bursas, or to eliminate any adhesions that
may be present.
A frozen shoulder is
the result of long-standing shoulder bursitis which has not been treated
properly or has been unusually resistant to treatment. The pain and spasm lead
to disuse of the shoulder joint and atrophy, or wasting away, of muscle, bone,
and joint substance. Adhesions, too, may form around the joint. In time, the
shoulder becomes immobile or "frozen." However, with physiotherapy,
even such a shoulder may be made to develop good function again.
