Knee Bursitis

About Knee Bursitis

Knee bursitis is a painful condition that can significantly limit mobility and interfere with daily activities. At The Spine & Rehab Group, our board-certified spine and joint specialists in New Jersey and New York City provide advanced diagnosis and non-surgical treatment options for knee bursitis and related knee conditions. Early evaluation and proper treatment can help reduce inflammation, relieve pain, and prevent long-term complications.

What Is Prepatellar Bursitis?

Knee bursitis refers to the inflammation or irritation of the bursa near the knee joint. A bursa is a small fluid-filled sac preventing friction between moving parts in your knee joint, including the bones, muscles, tendons and ligaments. When the bursa gets inflamed, you feel knee pain.

The inflammation causes the bursa’s lining to thicken and produce excess fluid. The excess fluid collects in the bursa sac causing it to swell, which leads to tenderness and pain. If left untreated, the injured bursa can get infected. With so much movement dependent on your knees, any injury to these joints can alter your quality of life.

With a painful knee, you’ll have problems doing normal daily activities. In New York City and northern New Jersey, the Spine & Rehab Group has pain and spine specialists like Dr. Amr Hosny and his team who can relieve your knee pain.

These doctors leverage cutting-edge technology to diagnose knee conditions, including:

• A meniscus tear
• An ACL tear
• Patellofemoral pain syndrome
• Patellar tendonitis
• Runner’s knee
• Knee arthritis
• Other knee injuries

What Are the Types of Knee Bursitis?

Every case of knee pain resulting from inflammation of knee bursa is unique because it varies based on the affected bursa.

Your knee has three major bursae, so depending on the one that’s inflamed, your condition may involve:

• Prepatellar bursitis. Inflammation of the prepatellar bursa at the tip of the knee
• Infrapatellar bursitis. Inflammation of the bursa of the knee just under the kneecap, a common condition following an injury to adjacent tendons
• Pes anserine bursitis. Inflammation of the bursa at the inner side of the knee
• Superficial infrapatellar bursitis. Also referred to as clergyman’s knee due to inflammation and fluid accumulation resulting from chronic stress
• Medial collateral ligament bursitis. Includes symptoms of a medial meniscus tear and a medial collateral ligament tear

A correct diagnosis of your knee condition is only possible after thorough examination and imaging tests. Visit the top pain specialists at the Spine & Rehab Group in NYC and NJ to get the right diagnosis, which is the first step toward your bursitis knee treatment.

Our Board certified doctors Amr Hosny, MD, MBA, FASA Book Now David Chu, MD, FAAPMR Book Now Vivek Mehta, MD, FAAPMR Book Now Deepali Gupta, MD, DABA, DABPM Book Now

What Are the Symptoms and Causes of Prepatellar Bursitis?

An early diagnosis helps determine the cause of the inflammation of a bursa. The diagnosis forms the basis of your personalized bursitis knee treatment plan developed by Dr. Hosny and his team.

Common symptoms of knee bursitis include:

• Tenderness and swelling in your knee
• The knee is warm to touch
• Redness on the front of the knee
• Pain when kneeling
• Stiffness in the knee joint
• Difficulty straightening or bending the knee
• Septic prepatellar bursitis can cause your knee to look patchy — you may get a rash, bumps or sores — accompanied by a fever

You may not notice all these symptoms, but any of them, combined with knee pain, is a reason to seek medical attention.

Common causes of bursa inflammation include:

• Knee injury or overuse
• Direct trauma to your knee from a fall or a hit
• Prolonged crawling or kneeling
• Complications from other conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, gouty arthritis or pseudogout
• Septic bursitis, which is an infection of the bursa
• Complications from a past knee surgery
• Autoimmune conditions
• A sports injury

What Are the Risk Factors for Knee Bursitis?

Knee pain is a major complaint and the underlying condition of the knee may be knee bursitis.

Some factors that make you more prone to this kind of knee injury include:

• Playing sports that involve direct blows and falls, such as wrestling, football and volleyball
• Running, which puts you at a higher risk of pes anserine bursitis
• Working in an occupation that requires you to crawl or kneel frequently
• Being obese or overweight

If you’re in any of these risk categories, take precautions to avoid the painful damage to your knees. Losing weight and wearing protective gear in sports and on the job is one step to protect yourself from knee injury.

How Is Prepatellar Bursitis Treated?

Treatment for knee bursitis depends on the results of your doctor’s examination and any diagnostic imaging tests. Your specific treatment depends on the type of bursitis you have.

Knee bursitis treatment options include:

• Rest, ice, compression and elevation (RICE)
• Over-the-counter pain relief and anti-inflammatory medication
• Corticosteroid injections in the affected bursa to relieve your pain and reduce the inflammation
• Physical therapy exercises
• Assistive devices, such as a cane or crutches
• Surgical options for recurring, severe or chronic knee bursitis, although surgery is always the last resort

Your knee doctors at The Spine & Rehab Group use evidence-based, non-surgical pain management techniques and a multidisciplinary approach to treat knee bursitis and other knee, back, hip, and neck pain conditions. Care is available at select New Jersey locations, including Millburn, NJ and East Brunswick, NJ, as well as our New York City office in Greenwich Village. Contact the practice today to schedule a consultation and take the next step toward lasting knee pain relief.

Dr. Hosny is a distinguished physician, educator, and healthcare leader with a commitment to advancing health equity and accessibility in the rapidly evolving landscape of modern healthcare. After completing his residency at St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital Center, affiliated with Columbia University in New York City, he pursued an Interventional Spine Fellowship at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, part of Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA.

Dr. Hosny has held prominent roles in academic medicine, including serving as an Associate Clinical Professor at New York Medical College and as the Interventional Spine Fellowship Program Director. These positions reflect his dedication to mentoring the next generation of healthcare professionals and advancing the field of interventional spine care.

More About Dr. Hosny

The Spine & Rehab Group
140 NJ-17,
Paramus, NJ 07652
(212) 242-8160