Gout Treatment

What You Know About Gout Treatment



Once you’ve been diagnosed with gout by a doctor, it’s a good idea to start learning about gout treatment immediately. Since gout treatment includes both preventing future episodes, and treating them when they occur, sticking to your routine can help to prevent a lot of pain and medical expenses!

In this article, we’ll look at both aspects of gout treatment – starting with prevention, and then looking at how to treat an active episode.

Gout Treatment – Preventing Gout Attacks


A big part of gout treatment is about preventative medicine. You don’t want to experience the pain, discomfort, and unpleasantness of a gout attack, and there are several things you can do to achieve that.

Speak to your doctor about a medication that helps to eliminate the uric acid from your body faster. There are several forms of gout treatment, including Uricosuric agents, and xanthine oxidase inhibitors, which work differently, but are both effective parts of gout treatment and prevention.
Watch your weight. Being overweight puts more strain on your joints, and it increases the risk that your gout will flare up.
Avoid alcohol, and in particular, beer. Beer has been proven to cause your body to release more uric acid, and it works against your gout treatment.
Watch your diet, and avoid meat and seafood when possible. These contain high levels of a chemical called purine, which is particularly bad for gout sufferers.
Exercise moderately.
Speak to your doctor about your other medication. Some medication, like aspirin, while good for your heart, may raise your uric acid levels, and trigger a gout episode.
Gout Treatment – Treating Gout Attacks


Even if you are careful about gout prevention, there will probably still be times when gout treatment is necessary. Here are a few tips to help reduce the symptoms of an attack:

The first thing your doctor will recommend, in most cases, when you’re looking for gout treatment, is rest. You will need to elevate the joint, and not use them.
Your doctor will probably also prescribe an anti inflammatory, like ibuprofen, but remember, aspirin can make gout symptoms worse, so don’t take it, or any other over the counter drugs, until you have spoken to your doctor.
In severe cases, and depending on your doctor’s advice, your gout treatment may also include colchicine, and corticosteroids.
When it comes to illnesses like gout, the old adage ‘prevention is better than cure’ certainly, hold true. Waiting to treat gout, rather than practising preventative measures, can mean that you have to live with a lot more pain than is strictly necessary – and no one wants that! A few lifestyle changes, and a good doctor, who understands the disease, can make all the difference.

However, it should be comforting to know that you don’t have to suffer without any relief – in fact, there are several treatments that can be effective. So whether you’ve been newly diagnosed, or whether you have been suffering from gout some time, it’s worth finding out more about gout treatment, and avoiding at least some of the pain and discomfort.