Welling Clinic offers specialised treatment protocol to cure Gout pain. The treatment for Gout has been developed after an exhaustive in-house research. Our clinics consults for more than 3250 patients of Gout globally, every year. You too can be benefitted by our expertise.
What is Gout?
Gout is a medical condition usually characterized by recurrent attacks of acute inflammatory arthritis—a red, tender, hot, swollen joint.
The metatarsal-phalangeal joint at the base of the big toe is the most commonly affected (approximately 50% of cases).
It is caused by elevated levels of uric acid in the blood. The uric acid crystallizes, and the crystals deposit in joints, tendons, and surrounding tissues.
An attack of gout can occur suddenly, often waking you up in the middle of the night with the sensation that your big toe is on fire. The affected joint is hot, swollen and so tender that even the weight of the sheet on it may seem intolerable.
Causes of Gout
- some may spill over from the joint cartilage and inflame the soft lining of the joint (synovium), causing the pain and inflammation of an acute attack of gout
- some pack together to form hard, slowly expanding lumps of crystals (tophi), which can cause progressive damage to the joint cartilage and nearby bone; this eventually leads to irreversible joint damage, which causes pain and stiffness when the joint is being usedGout occurs when urate crystals accumulate in the joint, causing the inflammation and intense pain of a gout attack. Urate crystals can form when there are high levels of uric acid in your blood.Body produces uric acid when it breaks down purines — substances that are found naturally in the body, as well as in certain foods, such as steak, organ meats and seafood. Other foods also promote higher levels of uric acid, such as alcoholic beverages, especially beer, and drinks sweetened with fruit sugar (fructose).Normally, uric acid dissolves in the blood and passes through the kidneys into the urine. But sometimes body either produces too much uric acid or the kidneys excrete too little uric acid. When this happens, uric acid can build up, forming sharp, needle-like urate crystals in a joint or surrounding tissue that cause pain, inflammation and swelling.Eventually, when there is a high concentration of crystals in the joints, the crystals may cause two problems:
Risk factors of Gout:
- Some things can increase the amount of uric acid in the blood, making one more likely to develop gout. These risk factors are discussed in more detail below.Medical conditionsMedical conditions that can increase your risk of developing gout include:
- high blood pressure (hypertension)
- diabetes – both type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes
- kidney disease
- having high levels of fat and cholesterol levels in your blood
- having osteoarthritis in your feet, knees or hands
Men are more likely to develop gout than women because their uric acid levels rise during puberty and remain higher than women through adulthood.
During the menopause, women experience a similar, albeit smaller, rise in their uric acid levels. This explains why symptoms usually start later in women than in men.
Foods naturally high in purines include:
red meat – such as beef, lamb and pork
seafood – especially shellfish and oily fish
organs – such as liver, kidneys and heart
Alcoholic drinks raise the level of uric acid in the blood by increasing its production in the liver and reducing how much is passed out in urine.
Beer and spirits do this more than wine, and beer also contains significant quantities of purines. Moderate consumption of wine – one or two glasses a day – should not significantly increase your risk of gout.
Research has shown a possible link between gout and certain sugary drinks.
Specifically, a study found that men who regularly drank sugar-sweetened soft drinks and drinks with high levels of fructose (a naturally occurring sugar found in many fruits) had an increased risk of gout.
Diet soft drinks were not found to increase the risk of gout.
Studies have shown that gout often runs in families. Around one in five people with gout have a close family member who also has the condition.
It is still uncertain why some people are more susceptible to crystal formation and gout than others with equally high blood levels of uric acid. Many people with a high level of uric acid in their blood and tissues never develop gout.
Symptoms of Gout
- Warmth, pain, swelling, and extreme tenderness in a joint, usually a joint. This symptom is called Podagra. The pain often starts during the night. It may get worse quickly, last for hours, and be so intense that even light pressure from a sheet is intolerable.
- Very red or purplish skin around the affected joint. The joint may appear to be infected.
- Limited movement in the affected joint.
- Peeling and itching of the skin around the affected joint as the gout gets better.
- Some people may not experience gout as many painful attacks. Instead they have gout nearly all the time (chronic gout). Chronic gout in older adults may be less painful and can be confused with other forms of arthritis.
- Gout may lead to inflammation of the fluid sacs (bursae) that cushion tissues, particularly in the elbow (olecranon bursitis) andknee (prepatellar bursitis).
- Gout can also affect the joints of the feet, ankles, knees, wrists, fingers, and elbows.
- Symptoms may occur after an illness or surgery.
- Gout may first appear as nodules (tophi) on the hands, elbows, or ears. You may not have any of the classic symptoms of a gout attack.
Diagnosis of Gout
Tests to help diagnose gout may include:
- Joint fluid test– Joint fluid may reveal urate crystals.
- Blood test-to measure the levels of uric acid and creatinine in your blood.
Blood test results can be misleading, though. Some people have high uric acid levels, but never experience gout. And some people have signs and symptoms of gout, but don’t have unusual levels of uric acid in their blood.
- X-ray imaging-Joint X-rays can be helpful to rule out other causes of joint inflammation.
- Ultrasound-Musculoskeletal ultrasound can detect urate crystals in a joint or in a tophus.
- Dual energy CT scan –This type of imaging can detect the presence of urate crystals in a joint, even when it is not acutely inflamed.
Treatment of Gout
Treatment for gout usually involves medications.
Gout medications can be used to treat acute attacks and prevent future attacks as well as reduce your risk of complications from gout, such as the development of tophi from urate crystal deposits.
Drugs used to treat acute attacks and prevent future attacks include:
- Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).NSAIDs such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others) and naproxen sodium (Aleve, others), as well as more-powerful prescription NSAIDs such as indomethacin (Indocin) or celecoxib (Celebrex).
NSAIDs carry risks of stomach pain, bleeding and ulcers.
- Colchicine is a type of pain reliever that effectively reduces gout pain. The drug’s effectiveness is offset in most cases, however, by intolerable side effects, such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
- Corticosteroid medications, such as the drug prednisone, may control gout inflammation and pain. Corticosteroids may be administered in pill form, or they can be injected into your joint.
Corticosteroids are generally reserved for people who can’t take either NSAIDs or colchicine. Side effects of corticosteroids may include mood changes, increased blood sugar levels and elevated blood pressure.
Homeopathic Treatment for Gout
Homoeopathic medicines can be a big boon for all those who suffer from high uric acid. These medicines work by reducing the uric acids overproduction by the body and accelerating the removal of this waste product from through the kidneys.
Homoeopathy is known to control the uric acid diathesis and is also useful in acute attacks. Homeopathy helps in controlling the pain during the acute attack of gout as well as helps in preventing the recurrence of such episodes. It helps in reducing stiffness and improves the mobility of the joints.
One big advantage that homoeopathy offers in the treatment of high uric acid is that once treated the chances of relapse are very less, this is also subjected to the condition that diet and Alcohol and weight are well controlled.
The Homeopathic medicines for Gout have to be specific to every individual person. That is the reason a detailed history is required to customise the treatment for Gout. The Homeopathic treatment for Gout is chalked out after a detailed analysis and review of your past treatments for Gout and medicines for Gout taken by you.
With continued treatment patient notices the reduction in the frequency of attacks and intensity of pains with gradually leading to complete cure.
Homeopathic Medicines for Gout
Meet our experts today to know more about the Gout treatment and how you too can live a pain-free life after Welling Homeopathy treatment for Gout