Gout Treatment

Suffering From Gout? Top Gout Treatment and Remedies you should know about

Gout is an extremely painful condition characterized by joint redness, swelling and pain. The pain is usually limited to the metatarsophalangeal joint or the base of the big toe. However, it may also affect other joints in the body and cause severe pain, accompanied with redness and swellings. Gout can also present in different ways. Some patients exhibit painful arthritic symptoms of gout in joints like the heels of the feet, elbows, knees and hip joints. These joints may be affected together or one at a time. Joint pain starts in the night and persists for an entire day accompanied by fever and fatigue.

Cause of Gout

Hyperuricemia or high blood levels of uric acid are considered to the main cause of gout. Uric acid is a natural component of red meat, red wines and cheeses. Usually, the kidney filters blood and removes uric acid to excrete it into urine. If the kidney is now working properly, uric acid accumulates in blood resulting in hyperuricemia. Eventually, uric acid precipitates out to form urate crystals which accumulate in joint tissues causing the typical symptoms of gout. A definitive diagnosis of gout is made if urate crystals are found in joints.

Top Tips for Gout Treatment

• Prevention should be the first step in any gout prevention regimen. Lifestyle changes like increased exercise and a special diet for gout should be implemented immediately. Patients should also increase their intake of vitamin C and decrease their alcohol intake. Most doctors also recommend that you strictly control fructose, coffee, red wine, red meat and cheese consumption.

• Medications are also frequently used to control gout flare-ups. For example, the most commonly used medications include-

a. Allopurinol is the primary medication prescribed for gout. It blocks the production of uric acid and combines with it to reduce the amount of uric acid floating in blood. It may be combined with Probenecid to help the kidneys eliminate uric acid faster. Pegloticase also works on the same principle but it is injected into blood to eliminate uric acid faster from the body.

b. NSAIDs are painkillers which are provided to control acute pain during gout flare-ups. The most commonly used painkillers include ibuprofen and indomethacin. Patients who cannot tolerate these medications are provided with alternatives like naproxen.

c. Corticosteroids also combined with painkillers to reduce the swelling and inflammation in the affected joint. They can be given orally or injected directly into the joint to have the best effects.

d. Ankinar is a relatively new drug on the market but it seems to have a very good effect on the affected joint.

• Elevate the joint to reduce the pain and swelling.

• It’s a common misconception that ice can reduce the pain in a gouty joint. Ice causes uric acid to precipitate out faster and create larger crystals which will increase pain. Heat on the other hand increases blood circulation and brings more uric acid-filled blood to the painful tissues. Both heat and cold will aggravate the pain.

• Vitamin C seems to have a very good effect on gout. The exact action is not known but researchers feel that Vitamin C helps the kidney to excrete uric acid quickly.

• Cherries are a popular home remedy for gout. Fresh cherries are eaten whole or pureed and blended with sugar and water to form a drink. Most naturopaths recommend one cup of whole cherries or cherry puree a day to control gout. Most health food stores also carry unsweetened cherry puree specially formulated for gout patients.

• Using skimmed powder milk (instead of whole milk) can also reduce the incidence of gout attacks. Doctors also suggest combining skimmed milk with low fat yoghurt and vegetable sources of protein.

• Increase your water intake to more than 2 liters per day. Patients can also use about 60mEq/day of potassium citrate to prevent kidney stone formation.

• Herbalists also recommend the use of herbs like bilberry, alfalfa, buchu tea, ginseng and devil’s claw to control the condition. Other herbs like dandelion, uva ursi, rosehip, celery seed and celery oil, boswelia etc are used in the form of teas by herbalists to control gout.