Swelling
The purpose of a healthy bursa is to reduce friction between bone and surrounding soft tissue, such as skin, muscles, ligaments, and tendons. There would be a local swelling when a bursa’s synovial membrane becomes irritated and inflamed, and the bursa can swell to a surprisingly large size, which in turn can be felt and seen manually by the patient. In addition to being palpable, the affected area may also have a temperature rise. The swelling is due to the accumulation of fluid in the bursa as a result of the inflammation of the joint capsule. Over time, the patient would notice more and more constant pain and has trouble sleeping at night, if left untreated. Usually, the doctor may choose to drain fluid from the swollen bursa if the swelling gets heavy. If this swelling presents in a chronic bursitis case, bursa removed through surgery (a bursectomy) might be required.