Examples of Gout Pain Medication
Gout is one type of arthritis that commonly affects the joints of the feet and ankles, most commonly the joint found in the big toe. Gout attacks are characterized by intense inflammation and pain in the gouty joint that becomes red and warm. There is also a sensation of pressure surrounding the affected area along with a stretching feeling in the affected skin.
If your healthcare provider has diagnosed you with gout, you will be given the appropriate course of gout pain medication to help you manage this condition. Your doctor will request that you undergo some tests in order to determine whether your body is overproducing uric acid or it is failing to excrete the right amount of uric acid. This step will help the doctor find out which gout pain medication will work best for your specific condition.
Your healthcare provider will prescribe gout pain medication to help you control symptoms such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or NSAIDs. They will reduce the discomfort, pain and swelling in the join, making you feel better but NSAIDs does not stop the progression of gout. Because of this, NSAIDs cannot inhibit the complications of gout like bone and joint deformity.
A low NSAID dose is effective in controlling pain but a higher dose is needed to relieve inflammation. The disadvantage of this gout pain medication is it causes some side effects such as increased risk of heartburn when you take more than one NSAID at one instance and more adverse side effects like bleeding, ulcers and kidney disease. NSAIDs affect the clotting properties of blood and may interact with drugs that thin blood like coumadin. There are over-the-counter NSAIDs including Aspirin, Advil, Motrin IB and etcetera. However, most gout pain medication of this type needs a doctor's prescription such as Naprosyn, Relafen, Indocid, Voltaren, Feldene, and Clinoril.
Recently, COX-2 Inhibitors, an NSAID sub-class has been released to the US market. This type of gout pain medication does not inhibit the proper clotting of blood but there is strong evidence that COX-2 Inhibitors have the same side effects as regular NSAIDs. The most common COX-2 Inhibitors that doctors prescribe are Celebrex, Bextra, and Mobicox.
Another common gout pain medication is cortisone, which may be directly administered to the inflamed joint through an injection in order to relieve symptoms. Cortisone imitates the effects of a naturally-occurring hormone in the body, the cortisol, which fights inflammation. Cortisone injections are effective in immediately relieving joint inflammation but their chronic use can erode cartilage and deplete bone minerals, leading to a suppressed immune system and increased risk of infections.
Aside from gout pain medication, your healthcare provider will also prescribe the appropriate medication to help the body eliminate uric acid (i.e. Anturan, Novopyrazone, or Apo-sulfinpyrazone) or control its overproduction (i.e. Allopurinol, Zyloprim).
While there is currently no existing gout cure, taking doctor-prescribed medication to control symptoms and manage gout along with the proper diet and healthy lifestyle will contribute to a better quality of life.
