How to treat and prevent gout

From ohionewstime.com

Gout is a form of arthritis that makes your joints painful and swelled up. It normally lasts for a week or two and then goes away. Mostly the big toes of your feet or lower limbs of the body are affected. A substance called serum urate gets piled up in the body making needle-like crystals around the joints. These crystals are the ultimate cause of joint pain and swelling. Most people with high urate serum have strong immunity against it and their bodies prevent crystal formation.

Causes of gout

Increased uric acid is the number one cause of gout flares. If your kidneys do not function properly and are unable to flush out enough fluid from the body then some needle-like crystals can be formed around the joints causing pain and swelling in joints. There are several factors that are responsible for gout flares:

• Obesity
• High blood pressure
• High blood sugar level
• Kidney problems
• Alcohol consumption
• Consuming too much red meat

As gout flares cause sudden pain and swelling around the joints, many symptoms if caught early can prevent the worsening of this condition.

Symptoms of gout

The parts of the lower limbs are affected the most like toes, ankles, knees, and fingers. There are several signs which you must be aware of to prevent further pain in joints:

• Extreme pain in one or more joints
• Warmth around the joint
• Tenderness
• Swelling

Gout flares may usually last for 3 to 10 days and then go away due to which the joints move back to their normal condition.

Further problems caused by gout

If these conditions are left untreated then they can cause some serious problems which may be injurious for your health. They are as follows:

• Kidney stones
• Permanent joint damage
• Stiff lumps of uric acid under the skin called tophi

Steps for a temporary pain relief

If you are having gout flares then it is recommended that you :

• Put an iced pack around the affected joint
• Take rest
• Avoid knocking or damaging the affected joint
• Keep yourself hydrated

Treatment of gout

Gout can b treated by seeing a GP who will give you medicines like non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or colchicine to help lessen the pain in joints. Colchicine can be bought from any good pharmacy on the recommendation of your doctor. You can get a colchicine cost on the website of 90daymeds which is an online Canadian pharmacy, selling medicines at affordable rates. 

Adopting a healthy lifestyle approach like eating a balanced diet, losing weight, and taking such medicines which reduce your uric acid levels, can help in preventing crystal formation around the joints thus lowering the sense of pain. Lifelong treatment is required to keep the relapse of this condition away.

Lifestyle changes

You can adopt a healthy lifestyle approach by making some small changes like:

• Avoid consuming high levels of purine found in red meat, seafood, and foods containing yeast extract
• Avoid carbonated drinks
• Maintain a healthy weight
• Stay hydrated
• Cut down alcohol

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