Anserine bursitis is inflammation of the anserine bursa, causing pain on the inside of the knee. Athletes are prone to this condition, but it can be treated with rest, ice, and sometimes steroid injections.
Anserine bursitis is a disease related to a part of the anatomy called the anserine bursa. This is a soft, fleshy area on a person’s shinbone and protects the hamstring from making direct contact with the rough surface of the bone. When this sac becomes inflamed, the technical term doctors use to describe the condition is anserine bursitis, and it causes pain on the inside of the knee in an area slightly below the kneecap. The pain can sometimes be worse when people try to get up from a squatting position or climb stairs. This ailment usually occurs due to sustained activity, but can sometimes occur due to impact or other sudden stress.
Athletes are especially prone to anserine bursitis because they put constant strain on their knees. It’s especially common in sports that focus on running, jumping, and sudden changes of direction. Athletes sometimes try to avoid this problem by doing warm-up exercises before training or matches. In most cases, these athletes will focus on their hamstrings during the warm-up and may stretch a lot.
When someone develops anserine bursitis, the primary treatment is to rest the knee. This does not necessarily mean that the person has to stay in bed all the time. Some people may simply avoid activities that are particularly prone to stressing the hamstring. Doctors also recommend that the individual understand exactly what caused the injury in the first place and avoid that activity while the body is healing. Sometimes people may even need to change the physical mechanics of some activities in order to avoid constantly hurting the bursa.
To deal with the pain while suffering from pes anserine bursitis, people usually rely on ice packs and over-the-counter medications. The application of ice can sometimes be timed around daily workouts or other activities that can irritate the knee. This ailment is usually not painful enough to be totally debilitating, so prescribed pain solutions are not normally needed.
There are some cases of anserine bursitis that resist home treatment and sometimes force doctors to take more extreme measures. One of the most common approaches is to inject a steroid into the area around the bursa. Sometimes, this can actually cure the problem on its own, but doctors usually wait until the last minute before trying this approach because steroids have so many potential side effects.
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