Low Level Laser Therapy Provides An Effective Drug-Free, Safe Treatment Option For Prepatellar Bursitis
Prepatellar Bursitis Treatment using Low Level Laser Therapy
Prepatellar Bursitis (also known as beat knee, carpet layer’s knee, coal miner’s knee, housemaid’s knee, rug cutter’s knee, or nun’s knee) , Elbow, Hip (Greater trochanter), Achilles tendon and Heel can be successfully treated with LLLT.
Experienced GP, Dr Shikha Parmar, has a special interest in providing a drug-free safe, effective treatment solution in Melbourne for acute injuries and chronic pain using Low Level Laser light Therapy also termed Photobiomodulation or PBM Therapy.
Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) is the application of red and near infrared light over injuries to stimulate cellular repair. LLLT has a powerful anti-inflammatory effect as well as a healing effect on inflamed bursae and surrounding inflamed soft tissues. LLLT is completely safe and has no effect on normal tissues.
What Is Prepatellar Bursitis?
Prepatellar bursitis is an inflammation of the prepatellar bursa at the front of the knee. A bursa is a thin bag filled with lubricating fluid which reduces rubbing and friction between tissues such as bone, muscle, tendons, and skin.
The knee consists of up to 11 bursae. The bursae most commonly subjected to inflammation are the prepatellar bursa, infrapatellar bursa, pes anserinus bursa and suprapatellar bursa. At the tip of the knee, over the kneecap bone, is the prepatellar bursa. This bursa can become inflamed (prepatellar bursitis) from direct trauma to the front of the knee. This commonly occurs when maintaining a prolonged kneeling position.
What Causes Prepatellar Bursitis
Prepatellar Bursitis is most often caused by repetitive, minor impact on the area or excessive pressure on the Knee. It can also occur after a sudden, more serious injury.
Movement of tendons and muscles over the inflamed bursa aggravates its inflammation, perpetuating the problem.
Age also plays a role. As tendons age they are less able to tolerate stress, are less elastic, and are easier to tear. This can put stress on the bursa causing bursitis. An arthritic joint can similarly irritate a bursal sac.
Overuse or injury to the joint at work or play can also increase a person’s risk of Prepatellar bursitis. Examples of high-risk activities include gardening, raking, carpentry, shovelling, painting, scrubbing, tennis, golf, skiing, and throwing. Incorrect posture at work or home can also lead to Prepatellar bursitis. Inflammation of, or injury to, related muscles and tendons irritate the bursa impinging on it and restricting its area.
Sometimes the reason is unknown. It can also be associated with some chronic systemic diseases.
Prepatellar Bursitis is more common in adults, especially in those over 40 years of age.
What Are the Symptoms of Prepatellar Bursitis?
Prepatellar Bursitis causes pain in the joint of the inflamed bursa which may build up gradually or be sudden and severe. Knee pain is aggravated during or after activity and often the joint is stiff the next morning with reduced range of movement.
How is Prepatellar Bursitis Treated?
Traditionally, treatments for Prepatellar bursitis consist of temporary pain relief using anti-inflammatory medication, rest, and icing the area. While ice numbs the pain it also prevents healthy blood flow which is essential to providing oxygen and nutrients to the area to heal it, and remove waste products and CO2. Ice should therefore not be applied to injuries after the acute phase (the first day). Read more here.
Pain killer medication just masks pain temporarily which is appropriate to alleviate suffering but does not enhance tissue healing. Anti-inflammatory medication such as Ibuprofen and Diclofenac, used for more than even a week can cause a host of side-effects in the body and can be injurious to your health. These medications also do not improve healing and have actually been shown to slow it down.
Corticosteroid (cortisone) injections are also used to assist in the treatment of Knee bursitis. These can be painful and the procedure carries risks such as increase in pain (“steroid flare”), skin discolouration at the injection site, nerve damage, infection, to name a few.
What Parts of the Body Does Bursitis Affect?
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- Shoulder
- Elbow
- Hip (Greater trochanter)
- Knee (prepatella)
- Achilles tendon
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Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) is the application of red and near infrared light over injuries to stimulate cellular repair. LLLT has a powerful anti-inflammatory effect as well as a healing effect on inflamed bursae and surrounding inflamed soft tissues. LLLT is completely safe and has no effect on normal tissues.
Inflammation is the body’s response to injury to attempt to heal it. But often the inflammatory reaction is excessive and this has a paradoxical inhibitory effect on the body’s natural healing mechanisms. This then perpetuates pain and dysfunction in the affected area. By improving circulation and increasing cellular repair functions LLLT provides an environment for your body’s own natural healing processes to be activated and restored. Once normal immune processes are restored, the excessive inflammation is reduced and healing can begin.
LLLT does not exert any physical force on the bursa. Manipulation of the bursa just aggravates it, so you don’t want to actually handle the bursa, but instead decreasing the inflammation enables faster healing.
LLLT stimulates blood flow and lymphatic drainage, improved delivery of O2 and nutrition to the area, oxygen utilisation, removal of oxygen-free radicals and other waste products, and tissue healing. Read more on how Low Level Laser Therapy works.
You will be encouraged to move the affected area within range of movement/pain but not exert stretch or force during the healing phase
The end result is resolution of inflammation and restoration of healthy bursa and local soft tissues. Once tissues are healed, pain is eliminated and normal range of motion and function is restored. Then muscle and tendon strength and flexibility can be addressed with graduated exercises and stretching.
LLLT has no known side effects, is safe and effective. By treating the underlying problem, LLLT results in relief of pain and restoration of function, assisting with issues such as knee pain, hip pain and bursitis related chronic pain.
