Shoulder Bursitis
The shoulders are highly mobile articulations and need special structures to keep everything in place. One of them is a bursa or bag that holds the articular fluid and the structures closely packed in one place. This bursa can be inflamed and thickened. When that happens, it produces too much synovial fluid and causes swelling of the articulation and pain.
Shoulder bursitis can cause localized tenderness of the articulation and a type of pain that is aggravated by movements of the affected shoulder. The range of motion in the articulation is affected, and sometimes we can see redness (erythema) or edema (swelling) on the outside.
This is a common cause of shoulder pain in seniors and can be detected with an MRI. However, it is usually not required to make a diagnosis, and it is used only to rule out other causes such as solid tumors when they are suspected. In most patients, conservative treatment with rest, cold and hot compress application, and over-the-counter painkillers are enough to improve the symptoms. In other cases, patients may require bursal aspiration of the excess liquid or steroid injections to provide complete pain relief. The last resort is a surgical excision of the bursa, but it is only contemplated in recurrent or chronic bursitis.