Earth Clinic Mobile: Home Remedies for People and Pets

Apple Cider Vinegar for Bursitis

5 star (11)		92%
4 star (1)		8%

Rueth (Cádiz) on 01/08/2024:
5 out of 5 stars

Remember the nursery rhyme Jack and Jill? Well he bandaged his head with vinegar and brown paper...this has been used for decades! I had tendonitis of the wrist once and soaked a bandage in AVC, bandaged my wrist and put cling film on it all to stop dripping everywhere. I left it a few hours...you have to be careful this stuff burns your skin...and it worked like magic. That was years ago! I'm here now with knee bursitis and going to try the same treatment 👍

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Willie S. (Witbank Mpumalanga, South Africa) on 08/09/2017:
5 out of 5 stars

I had Bursitis in my right elbow it was the size of a golf ball,

I drank 1 tablespoon of Apple Cider Vinegar and 1 teaspoon of honey in water.

Once in the morning and once before bedtime and in 10 days the ball under my elbow was gone. For the 10 days I was taking this mixture I did rub the ball under my elbow for 20 seconds twice a day. No oil was used.

Helena (Toronto) on 06/30/2015:
5 out of 5 stars

ACV definitely worked for me. I have bursitis in my left shoulder could not sleep at nights. Tried different rubs not much relief. However started taking ACV with water in the morning and night and did see a dramatic change. Can do some yoga and the shoulder is almost back to normal. I also find that the ACV is working for weight loss as well which is an added bonus!

Eulalio (Youghal, Co. Cork, Ireland) on 02/16/2013:
5 out of 5 stars

I have no history of bursitis or anything like it, although I have a right shoulder ball and socket joint that has always been able to dislocate, so maybe some structural problems there.

Anyway, a couple months back I started practicing kung fu and qi gong more intensively than in the past (like 2 hours a day). Right shoulder started getting sore enough so I couldn't lie on it at night (turns out to be a standard sign of bursitis).

Finally one day it started getting really inflamed and the pain just getting worse. Worst pain I ever experienced for a solid week. Couldn't even move the arm. Excruciating. Aspirin helped the most among over-the-counter pills. Couldn't even wait the 4 hours between doses.

Anyway, accurately verified diagnosis as bursitis online and found this site. Got a bottle of apple cider vinegar and started taking a spoonful in water 3 times a day. Wasn't sure at first whether it was helping or my body was just following its natural course of healing.

After a few weeks, inflammation was down to maybe 25% of the original and I was doing light exercise again. Cut the vinegar treatment down to once a day and improvement seemed to stop. So, after a week I went back to 3 times again and improvement picked up again.

It's now 6 weeks since it all started and I'm able to sleep on the arm again, and am working out again, although much more carefully. I try to avoid exercises that rotate the arm in a 360 degree circle as this causes a "click" in the tendons that I think may be most responsible for irritating the area.

My bottom line is that I'm pretty sure the vinegar is doing something, so I'm going to continue it perhaps indefinitely.

Amrita (Mississauga, Ontario) on 02/01/2013:
5 out of 5 stars

Am in my 20s & had knee pain a few months back & had much trouble folding my knees, especially while taking the stairs or folding the joints.

After an X-ray & Ultrasound my doctor said it was bursitis, might be due to some shock or trauma from falling down or sports, although I couldnot recollect any. Could have been just due wrong position I slept that might have twisted the tissues causing inflammation which was internal but apparently not visible externally but caused much trouble in my daily life & I panicked a lot. Although 2 weeks of medication : VIMOVO seemed to have controlled it still, I felt the pain during walking & other activites. Also standing for sometime like cooking kind of aggravated it.

I didnt want to depend on medicine as I did a bit of research and found that the medicine is quiet strong & not good for intestine as well.

So I came to earthclinic & found people talking about it. Many suggested Apple Cider Vinegar as a cure. So I thought lets try it the natural way. I ordered ACV (Bragg or Filsinger both are equally good) and blackstrap molasses.

From then I mix 2 Tablespoon of ACV & 1 Tspoon of molass in a glass of lukewarm water & drink it first thing in the morning around half an hr before before having any breakfast. I noticed my pain gradually went away which had not completely disappeared even with strong dose of Vimovo.

Also it seems to have given me immunity to cold, coz Canadian Winter is chilly & temp is below -10 many a times, and I came to Canada recently on business for a year, not much used to winter.

Also mix honey with ACV if I run out of blackstrap molass, seems to be good.

So thanks to every one who is discussing their experiences in earth clinic, and I hope mine also helps some one too.

Bob (Olney, Md) on 08/21/2012:
5 out of 5 stars

I had hip bursitis for three years. It only hurt when lying down... It didn't matter if I lay on my right side or left side, or with a pillow between my legs. Twice I had cortisone injections, with limited and shortlived relief. Twice I took steriod packs which gave me no more than a week of relief. After coming to this site I began a regiment of 2T ACV, 1T blackstrap molassses, 1t modified citrus pectic. In four days the pain was gone. I've continued this daily for ten months and the pain has not come back. Before I started this I also had lower back pain. Often! Lots of Aleve or Excedrin. But, now I seldom ever get the back pain and when I do it's because I overexerted myself. Fortunately, this pain and stiffness also goes away in a day or two.

Note! It hasn't gotten rid of my grey hair, but, so what. I'm pain free.

Kelley (Houston, Texas, Usa) on 06/16/2012:
4 out of 5 stars

I am new to the page, just wanted to say thank you so much that it exists, I have been in pain with hip bursitis for several years and can't take advil pain pills etc, and besides all it does is mask the pain, doesn't cure anything. It had gotten so bad that it would actually even wake me from sleep - Now on to the good part - I followed the advice on this page, got the apple cider vinegar, took a couple of table spoons before bed, also drank lots of water with the baking soda and lemon. Was in a lot of pain before I went to bed, but amazingly this morning I have very little bursitis pain (usually I wake up in an extreme amount of pain) although I do still have a lot of muscular pain, (this is the 1st day) I can't believe how quickly this has made a difference.

Stephen (Birzebbugia, Malta) on 05/18/2010:
5 out of 5 stars

Bursitis cured with ACV. I am over 50 and had a bad fall, landed on my elbow. It swelled and thought it would go away, it didn't. Three months after I started putting ACV on it, and it remained the same.

Then I soaked a piece of cloth in ACV, kept it on the swell with an elbow support sleeve, almost day & night, and after one day it went down by 15%. I also was careful not to hit it again. On 2nd and 3rd day, down by 75%. That ugly swell has gone and hoping for a complete healing.

Denise Enright (Laguna Niguel, California /USA) on 01/24/2009:
5 out of 5 stars

Hi, I too have discovered the health benefits of ACV( Organic's ACV - which you can find at most supermarkets). I take it for joint pain, and if I have an acid stomach- or feel bloated--yes, acid on acid nutrilizes. Also, to get to sleep I drink a cup about a 1/2 before bed and read a good book. I don't think you need to have the honey, unless you want it sweet or for a sore throat,or chest congestion- add lemon juice and honey. I take 2 TBSPS in in 8 to 12 oz of hot water and sip slowly-for best results. God Bless

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Dinah (PA, CA) on 01/05/2006:
5 out of 5 stars

Hi, just needed to write to say I suffered from "bursitis" in the hip for a year and a half. Every doctor said the same thing: vicodin for the pain, advil for the inflammation, and prescription muscle relaxers for the accompanying muscle cramps, and several rounds of physical therapy. I certainly couldn't function on the medications, and only seemed to get temporarily, mildly better. I stumbled suddenly had a craving for sauerkraut, if you can believe it, and borscht and homemade salad dressings-all foods that I usually don't like. I am not exaggerating when I say I slept my first night pain free, and started doing the vinegar and honey concoction and simply can't believe I feel so good, so fast! I did increase my water intact, too, to aid in cleansing my body of whatever it had, too. I just used Heinz and Sue Bee and all that pain from mid-back to knees are gone. I even did yoga today which I love but was told it was irritating the bursas-"try swimming." How can I swim while taking vicodin and muscle relaxers?!?!?

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