Relieve Your Symptoms with Radiotherapy for Bursitis

Bursitis is a painful condition that commonly affects athletes and older people. Often associated with arthritis, bursitis can cause significant discomfort and hinder regular activities. Typically patients are recommended to rest the affected joints, apply ice, take pain medications, or try physical therapy. If these conservative methods don’t work, some medical practitioners may recommend more extreme methods, such as injections or surgery. At Northwest Cancer Clinic, we offer a safe, effective, and non-invasive method: radiotherapy for bursitis.

The pain associated with bursitis has to do with inflammation. Small, fluid-filled sacs called bursae cushion the bones, tendons, and muscles near joints. When these small sacs become inflamed, it causes pain, swelling, and difficulty moving the affected joints. Bursitis can happen anywhere in the body, but it’s most commonly found in shoulders, hips, elbows, and knees. The key to treating bursitis is treating the inflammation.

Studies have shown that low-dose radiotherapy is a successful tool for reducing inflammation, which relieves pain. Anti-inflammatory radiotherapy works by lowering the production of naturally occurring chemicals in the body that cause inflammation and stopping inflammatory cells from rushing to the area of the body that’s in pain.

Treating inflammation isn’t the only thing radiotherapy does for the body and affected joints, however. It also promotes long-term pain relief. Radiotherapy has been shown to improve the natural healing processes of the body by stimulating the repair process in affected tissue. Additionally, it helps reduce the sensitivity of pain receptors in the body, so patients feel less pain overall. For patients dealing with chronic bursitis pain, radiotherapy for bursitis offers the potential for longer-lasting relief.

Radiotherapy for bursitis involves a series of 6-10 treatments spread out over a few weeks. The exact number of treatments depends on the patient and the severity of the condition. Dr. Juno Choe, who has over 15 years of experience in radiation oncology, consults with patients to determine the best course of treatment. Treatment can begin after the initial consultation.

Our clinic works to stay at the forefront of the latest in radiation treatment technology, so the machine Dr. Choe uses for radiotherapy treatments has been designed to concentrate the low-dose radiation directly on the affected area during treatment. During treatment, patients simply lay down on a table.

Treatments are painless and take just a few minutes. Once treatment is finished, patients can go about the rest of their day as normal. Thousands of studies have shown that radiotherapy has little to no side effects, but patients may experience slight skin irritation at the area of treatment or fatigue. If a patient does experience side effects, they typically do not last long.

For patients struggling with bursitis who haven’t found success with methods like ice and rest, but don’t want to undergo surgery, anti-inflammatory radiotherapy is a wonderful treatment option. At Northwest Cancer Clinic, we offer radiotherapy for bursitis as a safe and effective treatment that serves as a non-invasive alternative to other methods. We are committed to helping our patients live their best lives as pain-free as possible.