Gout causes extreme pain in the joints, especially in the big toe. The pain is excruciating and prevents sufferers from living normal lives. The pain is caused by urate crystals forming from high uric acid levels in the blood. These crystals cause inflammation when they lodge in soft tissues around joints. Sufferers prioritize reducing gout pain to resume normal activities. While medication provides short-term relief, natural remedies like cherry juice and baking soda can also help manage pain and prevent future attacks by addressing the underlying uric acid levels. Long-term treatment requires lifestyle changes to diet and exercise to control uric acid and avoid chronic gout.
2. People who have had gout pain know how much suffering it can cause. They also know it can completely disrupt their normal life.
3. The numbing or tingling sensation that begins, usually in your big toe, soon becomes a hot, burning pain in your joint and makes it completely stiff and unusable.
4. The pain is indescribably bad, and those who have never suffered from gout cannot possibly understand the agony the gout victim has to endure.
5. While gout pain will often show up in the big toe area, this is not the only place that it can be found.
6. Any joint in the body is susceptible to gout pain, particularly as the gout begins to get worse.
7. The pain during an attack of gout is caused by the deposit of urate crystals. These form because of the excess of uric acid in your blood level, a condition known as hyperuricemia.
8. Once these crystals lodge in the soft tissues around your joint, the body reacts as it would to the invasion of a foreign body such as a bacterial infection.
9. It floods the affected area with inflammatory cells, leading to the swelling and pain usually associated with gout.
10. The crystals themselves can rupture the inflammatory cells which leads to an even stronger response from the body.
11. Usually the gout sufferer’s first priority is to get rid of the gout pain, so that they may resume their normal life as quickly as possible.
12. Gout pain can affect the sufferer’s ability to work, so it is important to deal with the immediate issues first.
13. However, in the long run the underlying conditions need to be remedied to prevent gout attacks from returning. If left alone gout can get a lot worse, to the point that it becomes almost permanent.
14. There are many types of gout pain relief, and you have the option of going for home based natural remedies or medication.
15. Medication such as NSAIDs can provide rapid reduction in the swelling, but can have some adverse side effects. Also not everybody can take the medications available.
16. As such, people are increasingly opting for natural gout treatment.
17. Some commonly available natural substances are found to have the high effectiveness in controlling gout pain, as well as preventing the recurrence of gout attacks.
18. One such natural product is cherry juice which is well established as having the ability to reduce the pain caused by gout.
19. Rich in anthocyanins, cherries are excellent for controlling the pain and swelling associated with a gouty arthritis attack.
23. The use of baking soda for pain control in gout patients is an ancient practice and is still continued by many gout patients.
24. Simply mix half a teaspoonful of baking soda in a large glass of water every 4 to 6 hours till the pain is gone.
25. However take care with this option as bicarbonate of soda is a salt, so it should not be taken too much.
26. Of course you should consult with a medical professional before undertaking any treatment program.
27. Changing your food habits and avoiding certain foods that cause the accumulation of uric acid in your body can achieve the best relief from long-term gout pain.
28. Many foods are high in purines, which break down in the body into uric acid.
29. As well as this, being overweight can have a significant impact on the body’s uric acid levels, and in general the foods that are good for gout will also help you attain and maintain a healthy weight.
30. Water is important for gout, as it is for general health. In the case of gout, drinking at several liters of water daily will help your body to excrete more uric acid out of your body.
31. Good exercise helps all your joints and muscles regain strength and help in maintaining good form even after repeated gout pain attacks.
32. This will help them from becoming permanently damaged due to lack of flexibility.
33. Acute gout pain attacks can morph into long term chronic gout if the underlying issues are not addressed.
34. It is vital that once the immediate gout pain has passed that the sufferer attends to the underlying root causes of their gout. If they don’t, the gout will get a whole lot worse over time.