Guidelines on Home Treatment of Gout
Gout is a disease characterized by joint inflammation, which causes swelling and sever pain in the affected are. Gout develops over a period of time when uric acid deposits have built up in the joints and the tissues that surround them. If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with this disease, consider the following guidelines for home treatment of gout.
As you may have experienced, an acute gout attack is very painful. Decreasing the pain during such attacks is the main goal of home treatment of gout. The first thing to do when an attack occurs is to stop whatever you are doing and rest the painful joint not only until the pain eases but for up to 24 hours afterwards. Elevating the affected joint/joints will also help reduce pain. You can take non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or NSAIDs to relieve the swelling. Avoid aspirin because it can alter the level of uric acid in the body, causing more harm than good.
Preventing attacks as much as possible is also an important aspect of home treatment of gout. The best way to prevent or lessen further gout attacks is to know the factors that put you at risk so you can modify them. One of the common risk factors of gout is obesity. Therefore, if you are over your ideal weight, home treatment for gout in your case should include a low-fat diet. However, it is important to note here that skipping meals, fasting or diets that are low in calories should be avoided by gout patients because they will only increase uric acid levels in the body.
Also, gout patients should greatly reduce or, better yet, eliminate high-purine foods from their diet such as meat and most sea foods. Reducing alcohol intake, especially of beer, will also help in the home treatment of gout because alcohol decreases the ability of the kidney to get rid of uric acid into the urine.
Keeping a healthy weight is vital to an effective home treatment of gout so engage in moderately active lifestyle. Exercise thrice a week to maintain an ideal weight. A practical home treatment of gout is to keep your feet and hands warm because cold weather or temperature can trigger a gout attack.
When it comes to medication, get the advice of your doctor whe
ther the medicines you are taking for some other condition will not increase the uric acid level in your system. Of course, another important part of home treatment for gout is remembering to take the gout medication your doctor has prescribed to lower your uric acid level (i.e. Allopurinol). This is of course different from pain medication so do not take them when experiencing a gout attack because they will not help.
