Gout Remedies Available for You to Use
There are several gout remedies that are available for you to use. You can use prescription medications, such as Allopurinol, Colchicine, and Indocin. You can also use natural remedies for gout such as eating plenty of fruits for their vitamin C and potassium. Another option are herbal remedies for gout, such as celery seed and its extract. Then there are the countless home gout remedies such as ice, nonprescription anti-inflammatory medications, and general health improvement techniques such as losing weight.
Which should you choose. That is primarily up to you and your physician and which method you are comfortable with. My hsuband used to get gout quite often. He has used all the methods we've described in this blog to varying degrees of success.
The biggest problem with gout patients, I believe, is that they tend to only attack the gout symptoms and forget about this disease while it is not affecting them. That will only lead to more attacks. The best gout remedies are those that work on gout even when it is not a painful incident you are dealing with. Preventative maintenance is the key. Over time, if you neglect to prevent and treat gout before an attack occurs, you will eventually destroy your joints and if not taken care of properly, this damage can become permanent. So, please take care of yourself.
I recommend that anyone who has gout goes and visits their doctor to discuss all your options in regards to preventing and treating this problem. For one thing, your treatments for gout may be slightly different than someone else with gout. Gout is usually caused by excessive uric acid concentration. However, this can occur for a couple of reasons. In some patients, their uric acid levels are so high the body cannot process all the excess and crystallization occurs and an attack soon follows. On the other hand, some people have very high uric acid levels and never get gout. Some people have normal levels of uric acid and still get outbreaks. Why is this? Because their body cannot properly process the uric acid it does have. So there are essentially two reasons why someone can get gout. A simple test that your doctor can do will help you determine which case you belong to and you can receive appropriate treatment.
Knowing which case you fall under will help your physician decide which medications are appropriate for you. And if you decide you wish not to use prescription medications this can help you determine which gout remedy to use.
Are your kidneys the problem or uric acid accumulation from too many purines in your diet the problem? If your kidneys are the problem, then you know you consider remedies that will help your kidneys function better. If your are having a problem with too much uric acid, you can consider changing your diet to reducing high purine foods and eating foods that help to neutralize or reduce this acid such as foods high in potassium and high in vitamin C. This is one reason why cherries are so successful in fighting gout. They contain potassium and vitamin C.
Once you have an attack, if you choose not to use medication, you can focus on foods that reduce swelling and provide pain relief such as pineapples. However, as always before trying something new, seek your doctor's advice. Most gout remedies are not dangerous, however, there are a few that can be under certain circumstances and it is important to seek proper medical counsel to avoid these instances.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Home Remedies for Gout
Gout Home Remedies to help Eliminate Gout Pain
There are countless gout remedies that any person should be able to use at home. Some of these therapies are preventative and some of them are helpful in reducing the pain if an acute gout attack occurs.
A controversial one is using ice. My husband used to get gout and he used ice and found it was very helpful. He would lightly put the ice on for up to 20 minutes. If you decide to give ice a try, it is important that you limit the ice to 20 minutes at most to avoid frostbite. You should also place a thin towel in between the ice and your skin to avoid freezing your skin. This can cause permanent damage if you do not do this. When using ice, for gout or an injury, try to remember, 20 minutes on, 40 minutes off.
While some people suggest ice, others do not. The reason for this is that cool temperatures can help crystallize the uric acid. This is something we are trying to avoid. Again, the ice will provide some relief, but there is the possibility of future attacks.
Weight loss
Most people with gout tend to be overweight. This double whammy can be due to overweight people eating foods that cause gout and increase weight. Examples would be hamburgers, hot dogs, and bacon. By reducing these types of foods you should lose or at least maintain your weight. This should also help your kidneys not to be overworked which your kidneys are a major factor in whether you can get rid of uric acid properly or not. So anything that is good for kidney health is something you should consider.
Drink Plenty of Water
Speaking of kidney health, it is very important to drink plenty of water in order to maintain healthy kidneys. Kidneys help get rid of excess urates which will help reduce your chances of getting gout. This is the ultimate in home remedies for gout because anyone can drink plenty of water. Many gout patients though are addicted to sodas and need to wean themselves off of sodas as they dehydrate you, thus raising your uric acid concentration and also raising your risk for a gouty episode.
NSAIDs
If you do get a gout attack, you can attack your gout symptoms while at home without taking prescriped medicine. One way is to take an anti-inflammatory such as Aleve (my husband's favorite choice), ibuprofen, or Motrin. Either one works well. Avoid aspirin as this can actually make your gout attack worse. If you must take aspirin due to physicians orders due to heart disease, you may need to take prescriptions. Ask your doctor what should work best for your situation.
Regular exercise
Exercising regularly helps keep your joints in shape and helps reduce weight which are two important factors in keeping gout at bay. Joint health is achieved by helping the collagen eliminate harmful byproducts and this can be accomplished by regular exercise. After seeing your doctor to determine your ability of what type of exercise is safe for your health condition, you should aim to start slow and avoid exercise that creates hard pounding on your joints, such as jogging and aerobics. Swimming is very good for your joints and is one my husband does to help improve his health.
Other natural gout remedies people have used are apple cider vinegar. I have heard people say this has helped them, while others claim there is no scientific evidence this works. The jury is out. Give it a try and see for yourself. It is not harmful for you to do so. It may give you pain relief. You can usually get a good apple cider vinegar at a natural health food store.
As you can see most of these ideas are fairly simple to implement and is based on living a basic healthy lifestyle. If you go slowly you should see the best results. If you do try and do too much, you probably will get a gout attack as you will throw off the percentage of uric acid levels in your body until your body gets used to it's new weight.
Using these therapies a long with herbal gout remedies can not only help ease your pain, they can also help you reduce your uric acid levels and reduce the chances of future gout attacks.
Trish
There are countless gout remedies that any person should be able to use at home. Some of these therapies are preventative and some of them are helpful in reducing the pain if an acute gout attack occurs.
A controversial one is using ice. My husband used to get gout and he used ice and found it was very helpful. He would lightly put the ice on for up to 20 minutes. If you decide to give ice a try, it is important that you limit the ice to 20 minutes at most to avoid frostbite. You should also place a thin towel in between the ice and your skin to avoid freezing your skin. This can cause permanent damage if you do not do this. When using ice, for gout or an injury, try to remember, 20 minutes on, 40 minutes off.
While some people suggest ice, others do not. The reason for this is that cool temperatures can help crystallize the uric acid. This is something we are trying to avoid. Again, the ice will provide some relief, but there is the possibility of future attacks.
Weight loss
Most people with gout tend to be overweight. This double whammy can be due to overweight people eating foods that cause gout and increase weight. Examples would be hamburgers, hot dogs, and bacon. By reducing these types of foods you should lose or at least maintain your weight. This should also help your kidneys not to be overworked which your kidneys are a major factor in whether you can get rid of uric acid properly or not. So anything that is good for kidney health is something you should consider.
Drink Plenty of Water
Speaking of kidney health, it is very important to drink plenty of water in order to maintain healthy kidneys. Kidneys help get rid of excess urates which will help reduce your chances of getting gout. This is the ultimate in home remedies for gout because anyone can drink plenty of water. Many gout patients though are addicted to sodas and need to wean themselves off of sodas as they dehydrate you, thus raising your uric acid concentration and also raising your risk for a gouty episode.
NSAIDs
If you do get a gout attack, you can attack your gout symptoms while at home without taking prescriped medicine. One way is to take an anti-inflammatory such as Aleve (my husband's favorite choice), ibuprofen, or Motrin. Either one works well. Avoid aspirin as this can actually make your gout attack worse. If you must take aspirin due to physicians orders due to heart disease, you may need to take prescriptions. Ask your doctor what should work best for your situation.
Regular exercise
Exercising regularly helps keep your joints in shape and helps reduce weight which are two important factors in keeping gout at bay. Joint health is achieved by helping the collagen eliminate harmful byproducts and this can be accomplished by regular exercise. After seeing your doctor to determine your ability of what type of exercise is safe for your health condition, you should aim to start slow and avoid exercise that creates hard pounding on your joints, such as jogging and aerobics. Swimming is very good for your joints and is one my husband does to help improve his health.
Other natural gout remedies people have used are apple cider vinegar. I have heard people say this has helped them, while others claim there is no scientific evidence this works. The jury is out. Give it a try and see for yourself. It is not harmful for you to do so. It may give you pain relief. You can usually get a good apple cider vinegar at a natural health food store.
As you can see most of these ideas are fairly simple to implement and is based on living a basic healthy lifestyle. If you go slowly you should see the best results. If you do try and do too much, you probably will get a gout attack as you will throw off the percentage of uric acid levels in your body until your body gets used to it's new weight.
Using these therapies a long with herbal gout remedies can not only help ease your pain, they can also help you reduce your uric acid levels and reduce the chances of future gout attacks.
Trish
Disclaimer
**Disclaimer**
While all the remedies on this site have been used by others to varying degrees of success, this site is meant only as an information site. It is not meant for medical advice or to be used in place of a physician's counsel. Not all items on this list have FDA approval as being successful in treating gout and I recommend heavily that you seek your physician's counsel before treating this or any disease. I am not liable for any damage done by you by using any of these remedies.
While all the remedies on this site have been used by others to varying degrees of success, this site is meant only as an information site. It is not meant for medical advice or to be used in place of a physician's counsel. Not all items on this list have FDA approval as being successful in treating gout and I recommend heavily that you seek your physician's counsel before treating this or any disease. I am not liable for any damage done by you by using any of these remedies.
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