What is gout? What are its symptoms? How to recognize a gout attack? What should be done in this case? All these questions plague many people suffering from this disease.
There are 4 stages of disease development:
The main clinical manifestations of gout:
An acute attack of gout is manifested by severe pain, swelling and redness, joint hypersensitivity and increased temperature (becomes hot to the touch); Symptoms often first appear at night. This condition, in the absence of adequate treatment, can last from 1-2 days to several weeks.
Reasons why uric acid accumulates in the body:
Conditions that increase the risk of developing gout:
In the absence of timely and proper treatment, regular relapses of urolithiasis and pyelonephritis that accompany gout can lead to the development of nephrosclerosis and kidney failure, and the accumulation of uric acid in the joints can lead to serious damage and limited mobility.
The disease is diagnosed by a doctor after examination, taking a medical history and conducting laboratory blood tests for the presence of uric acid and joint fluid to detect it. An X-ray examination is performed to study the condition of the joints and detect tophi.
Today there are no remedies that would permanently get rid of this disease, but there are drugs that relieve symptoms and help relieve an attack.
Treatment requires treatment of diseases that develop against the background of gout. Thus, the treatment of gout includes the following points:
Emergency assistance during an attack, which can be provided at home, is as follows:
The most common medication for treating acute gouty arthritis is colchicine, an anti-inflammatory drug that reduces the production of uric acid. The dosage is prescribed by the doctor (depending on the severity of the disease).
Drugs such as allopurinol, orotic acid, thiopurinol, hepatocatazal, milurite help to quickly reduce the concentration of uric acid in the body.
A course of treatment with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (metindole, diclofenac, butadione, indomethacin, naproxen) is carried out for 1-2 weeks. Occasionally, a long-acting steroid (triamcinolone hexacetonide) may be prescribed. In addition to medications, techniques such as plasmaphoresis (blood purification) and physiotherapy are used to treat gout.
One of the fundamental conditions for effective treatment of gout is diet. The main requirements regarding the patient’s diet:
Traditional medicine that improves the removal of uric acid from the body and provides good medicinal assistance for gout:
Gout often damages joints that have been injured in the past, so you should avoid injuries, heavy physical activity, and wear comfortable shoes (the big toe joint is often affected). It is necessary to lead an active lifestyle.
This disease can be called as ancient as the world, because the diagnosis of gout was first made in the fifth century by Hippocrates, and only then the definition was firmly established in all medical textbooks of the world. Since time immemorial, people have been looking for ways to relieve an attack of gout, because there are a lot of patients suffering from this disease. At a certain period, gout was called a disease of aristocrats, so it was believed that this disease did not exist among the population of the Soviet Union.
Many scientific works have been devoted to gout therapy, and at the same time, over the past three decades, no new drugs have been created to cure this disease. In addition, there are no therapeutic recommendations that are uniform and take into account the individual characteristics of the patient, genetically determined metabolic processes, as well as type of diet and lifestyle.
How to determine that you have gout and not signs of another disease? Some patients complain that sometimes after a heavy dinner, supplemented with alcohol, they wake up at four or five in the morning with a sharp pain in their big toe. Moreover, it is so strong that it is simply impossible to find a place that alleviates such a condition. In this case, you can assume that you are having a gout attack. In this situation, you should immediately “take” your sore finger to a therapist, or better yet, see a specialist rheumatologist who will provide you with professional assistance.
It is known that sometimes when contacting a surgeon, the doctor diagnoses phlegmon or purulent arthritis, which requires surgery to remove the pus. As a result, an incision is made, but there is no pus. After such an operation, scars can be found in many patients who were not immediately diagnosed with gout. If an attack does strike you, you should be patient and wait out such a painful attack. How to relieve an unexpected attack of gout, what should you do? It is important to remember here that the duration of such attacks is no more than three days, therefore, you can use home methods.
Start by resting the joint, and then begin to “flush” uric acid from the body. You will need to drink enough fluids per day, up to eight glasses. This could be water, or herbal teas, rosehip infusion. In this case, it is very good to take lingonberry juice without added sugar.
If you can touch the joint, then apply an ice pack to the sore spot, hold for about ten minutes, no longer is necessary, so as not to catch a cold. After the calming effect of ice appears, apply cabbage leaves to the sore finger.
You can also sew a bag, pour three hundred grams of salt into it, heat it with an iron, and apply it to the sore area. If the pain still does not calm down, use a specially prepared ointment. To do this you will need half a glass of kefir, one hundred grams of mashed rye bread, and half a spoon of soda. All components are mixed, the resulting mixture is applied to the sore finger.
Doctors often call gout a “time bomb.” Statistics show that in recent years, cases of gout have increased. The basis of the disease is impaired metabolism and accumulation of uric acid salts in the joints. This happens for many reasons. Basically, this is an unbalanced diet, frequent consumption of beer, champagne, and other drinks.
As you know, the main source of uric acid formation in the body is purines; they are found in protein foods. For example, in meat. If purines are abundantly consumed in the diet, uric acid levels become higher. At the same time, alcohol aggravates the situation, as it slows down the excretion of acid by the kidneys.
How is a gout attack relieved, under what conditions does it most often occur? Fishermen and hunters often suffer from attacks of gout, and first of all, this is due to hypothermia of the legs; a heavy meal at night, supplemented with alcohol, also has an effect. Suppose the body temperature drops by two degrees, so the uric acid circulating in the body crystallizes in the coolest zone.
Magnetic resonance imaging shows that even the first attack of gout causes crystallization. In the coronary vessels, aorta, and other tissues, loss of tophi occurs - crystals that are barely noticeable under a microscope.
It should be remembered that the inflammation of the toe, of course, will pass, but a “time bomb” remains in other parts of the body. The number of tophi continues to increase, and gout becomes chronic. At the same time, the disease is a stepping stone to diabetes, atherosclerosis and other dangerous diseases.
With gout, even a slight violation of the diet in terms of the amount of alcohol consumed causes an exacerbation of the disease. How to relieve a gout attack and help yourself quickly? The insidiousness of the disease lies in the rapidity of the stage, with periodic attacks occurring. Many are sure that if it hurts and goes away, then there is nothing more to worry about, it means everything is fine. But what happens is that very soon gout begins to take over the body.
This is a serious disease, but curable. It is never too late to start therapy, unlike other systemic diseases. If you overcome yourself and begin to follow a low-purine diet, the tophi will begin to disappear, attacks will begin to occur less frequently, and then stop.
On the one hand, the problem is serious, but it is completely curable. The most important condition for treatment is avoidance of red wines, vodka, and beer. Traditional medicine calls for complex effects. You need to drink healing herbal infusions, take baths, exercise, and you can count on a positive result.
The most powerful and radical medicine is considered to be the root of the wrestler, an infusion that treats rheumatism and relieves gout. One hundred grams of raw material is poured with a liter of vodka and placed in a warm place for three days. The tincture is used for rubbing when it acquires the color of strongly brewed tea. Use no more than a teaspoon of product per rubbing.
The product increases blood circulation, and if you need to treat joints on both legs, then rub one leg one day, and only the next day treat the other.
If the gout is painful, with tumors, then rub the tincture before bed for four weeks in a row. It is important to be persistent, and gout will go away forever.
Gout is a disease that occurs due to an increase in the level of uric acid in the blood and the deposition of salts in the tissues of the body. As a rule, the development of this disease is accompanied by sudden attacks of acute pain, most often at night. The affected area appears red and swollen, sensitive to touch, and any movement causes severe pain.
During such an attack, the patient experiences a significant increase in body temperature and chills. Closer to the morning, the unpleasant sensations decrease or disappear altogether, and the next night everything repeats all over again. This continues for several weeks, then the attacks stop, but after a few months the disease worsens again, the patient’s condition worsens. Naturally, every person suffering from this disease is interested in how to relieve an exacerbation of gout.
It is important to know that the sooner treatment for an exacerbation is started, the sooner the pain will subside. How to relieve an acute attack of gout? First of all, it is necessary to ensure complete rest of the affected limb by placing it at some elevation. Applying an ice pack helps relieve redness and swelling.
But sometimes the cold only worsens the pain, so you can apply a warm compress or Vishnevsky ointment to the sore spot. The patient also needs plenty of alkaline drink - this can be mineral water, a decoction of oats and rose hips, mint tea with lemon, currant and cherry compotes.
It would also be useful to follow a diet that excludes the consumption of baked goods, butter and confectionery products, cabbage (except white cabbage), legumes, seafood, meat broths, hot, fatty, spicy foods, sausages, tea, coffee and alcohol.
For severe pain, the use of medications is recommended:
Before relieving an attack of gout with medications, you should consult a doctor, who will take into account the presence of other diseases and select the optimal dose of medication that is safe for the body.
If an acute attack of gout occurs, what should you do when you don’t have the necessary medications at hand? Proven folk remedies will help you overcome acute pain for a while:
It is important to understand that relieving an acute attack of gout will not relieve the patient of the disease. Therefore, you should tune in to a fairly long-term and comprehensive treatment that will alleviate and reduce the unpleasant manifestations of the disease.
Gout is a condition that occurs when there is an increased level of uric acid in the blood and excessive deposition of salts in the tissues of the body. Often the development of this disease can be accompanied by sharp and sudden acute pain, especially at night.
The affected area becomes red, swollen and becomes too sensitive to the slightest touch. Almost every movement of the patient causes severe pain in the leg.
If an attack begins, the person’s body temperature will rise significantly. As morning approaches, the painful discomfort decreases or disappears altogether, but every evening the pain returns again.
This pathological condition can last for several weeks in a row, and then the attacks disappear for several months.
Afterwards, the disease begins to torment the patient even more, rapidly worsening his condition.
As with any other disease, the sooner treatment begins, the sooner pain and other symptoms will subside. Moreover, every patient should know how to relieve an attack of gout, because his well-being and the outcome of the disease will directly depend on this.
To begin with, it is important to ensure absolute rest of the sore limb by placing it on an elevation (you can use a pillow). You can quickly relieve redness and swelling by applying ice packs.
There are times when the cold further intensifies the symptoms of pain in the leg and an attack of gout. Therefore, it may be necessary to apply a warm compress to the affected area or begin treatment with Vishnevsky ointment.
In addition, it is important to drink a lot of alkaline drinks:
If an acute attack of gout begins, it would be good to adhere to a strict diet, which includes avoiding the consumption of the following foods:
We can say that the complex - diet and treatment for gout, works great, and this combination is quite effective during an attack of gout.
If the pain in the leg is too severe, and an attack of gout is extremely painful, then doctors recommend the use of medications to relieve it:
During an attack of gout, the main role is played by the crystallization of uric acid salts located inside the joint capsule. These substances, being in a dissolved state, quickly take the form of crystals, causing irritation of surrounding tissues.
Until now, the mechanism of this phenomenon remains not fully understood. It is believed that urate crystallization occurs under the influence of the body's immune cells. They perceive uric acid salts as foreign substances and try to fight them.
Thus, the symptoms of gout appear as a result of a persistent increase in the level of urate in the blood. This happens for one of two reasons:
Diet may be a provoking factor. Eating large amounts of fatty meat and fish, drinking too much coffee and alcohol contribute to the occurrence of gout attacks. Exacerbations of the disease are characterized by pain and swelling in the affected joints. How long does the attack last? Usually all manifestations of the disease worsen in the evening, gradually subsiding in the morning.
Now let's talk about how to relieve gout pain on the legs and more.
How to relieve a gout attack on the leg? The main remedy that will help quickly relieve pain is colchicine. Painkillers have virtually no effect.
Treatment with colchicine is aimed at reducing the body's immune response. Uric acid salts from crystals turn back into a liquid state, which leads to pain relief. The swelling will also subside and the joint will return to its previous size. The redness that occurs at the site of inflammation will also disappear.
Emergency aid for an acute attack of gout is compresses with Vishnevsky ointment. This is best done after cooling the joint with ice. This will increase the effectiveness of colchicine treatment and will contribute to the rapid relief of symptoms.
First aid for gout helps to temporarily relieve the condition of patients. However, this disease requires longer and more complex treatment. So what to do if attacks happen not so rarely?
Effective drugs that are very often used to treat gout are NSAIDs - non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Typically, courses of their use last two weeks; they are used for frequent acute attacks.
Medicines of this type include Butadione, Diclofenac, Indomethacin and others. When prescribing medications for gout, the doctor must pursue two goals: the drugs must be selected so that they help relieve gout pain at home, and also reduce the overall level of uric acid in the bloodstream.
You already know how to relieve an acute attack of gout. What medications will help reduce the amount of urate in the body? Such drugs include:
Gout can be treated not only with pills. Diet also plays a huge role. The patient’s diet largely determines how often he will encounter manifestations of the disease.
The gout diet is aimed at reducing the intake of foods high in purines. Meat and fatty fish are considered undesirable foods. Dieting should be taken seriously, because how long a gout attack lasts depends on the level of urate, and it, in turn, is directly related to diet.
In addition to diet and medications, there are also special procedures that relieve pain and help improve the condition of the joints. Symptoms of gout will be relieved:
These treatment methods help to quickly relieve the symptoms of the disease, as well as restore damaged joints.
How to relieve a gout attack at home using traditional methods? It is worth saying that most often such means as diet and physiotherapy should only act as an addition to drug treatment.
With such a complex disease as gout, how to relieve acute pain with simple herbs and compresses? Very often these funds alone are not enough, however, they are also somewhat popular. The following are most often used by people:
Remember: folk remedies give effect in combination with diet and medications. It is necessary to treat gout only under the watchful supervision of a doctor, because this disease can lead to many complications, including kidney stones and tumors, destruction of cartilage and bone tissue in areas of inflammation.
Such consequences can be avoided only if the patient understands the seriousness of the situation and adheres to the recommendations given to him.
In this video, a specialist will talk about the symptoms of gout and how to treat it.
Many people experience joint pain. This problem occurs in a quarter of patients who consult a doctor. And often this is due to metabolic disorders in the body. A similar situation is typical for gout. But before understanding the methods of pain relief, it is necessary to understand its causes, briefly touching on the clinical picture of the disease. After this, it will become clear which mechanisms should be affected to improve the condition of gout.
Gout is a metabolic disease, which is based on disturbances in the metabolism of uric acid: an increase in its synthesis or a slowdown in excretion from the body. As a result, this substance accumulates in the blood and over time begins to penetrate into tissues and organs in the form of salts - urates. This leads to disruption of their normal functioning and is often accompanied by inflammation. The most affected are the joints, in which the cartilage tissue is gradually destroyed, but pathological changes also affect the kidneys and skin.
The most striking sign of the disease is an attack of gout. It occurs in the form of arthritis of the first metatarsophalangeal joint on the foot with characteristic signs of inflammation: pain, swelling, redness of the skin, and increased temperature. Movement in the affected area is, of course, limited. Over time, the disease becomes chronic, characterized by the following symptoms:
Many people complain that a “bump” has appeared on the first toe, which makes it difficult to put on shoes.
The greatest suffering is caused to patients by pain in the leg during an attack, which hinders movement and prevents them from leading an active lifestyle.
When visiting a doctor, patients first of all want to feel relief from their condition and learn how to relieve an attack of gout. But the treatment program should include not only methods of pain relief, but also long-term prevention of exacerbations. Remembering the mechanisms of development of the disease, the key points in its treatment will become clear - reducing the concentration of uric acid and fighting inflammation. The following activities will help with this:
Treatment of gout should correspond to the characteristics of the disease in a particular patient and be carried out on the basis of generally accepted recommendations and standards of care. You can’t let the disease go by thinking that after the attack disappears everything will get better - delaying treatment will lead to a significant drop in the quality of life in the future.
Great importance is given to the timely treatment of gout, since normalization of metabolic processes at an early stage will protect against further progression of pathology and complications.
The human body daily enters with food substances that subsequently participate in the formation of uric acid - purine bases. And if you have gout, you need to reduce its formation, so you should exclude or at least limit as much as possible the consumption of the following foods:
It is necessary to reduce the amount of animal protein, fats and carbohydrates in the diet. It is better to give preference to a non-strict vegetarian diet, which can be supplemented with lean varieties of meat, poultry and fish. It is also necessary to limit the consumption of table salt, but you should drink more liquids - at least 1.5–2 liters per day.
If you have gout, you need to monitor your own weight, fight obesity and malnutrition. Both factors can trigger an attack. To speed up the elimination of lactic acid, you should consume foods that have an alkaline reaction: dairy, non-acidic fruits and vegetables, mineral waters.
Following a diet for gout can improve purine metabolism, which will have a beneficial effect on the patient’s condition.
The use of medications is the basis of gout therapy. There are special medications that help relieve pain and normalize uric acid metabolism. Some of them eliminate an acute attack of gout, while others prevent its occurrence in the future. The first include the following medications:
The action of each of them is aimed at eliminating inflammatory processes in the joint, due to which leg pain, swelling and redness go away. As a rule, such drugs act quickly - the effect of taking it is noticeable already on the first day of treatment. Therefore, they are prescribed in a short course (no more than 2 weeks). Local applications are made with Dimexide solution, and anti-inflammatory ointment or gel (Dolobene, Diklak) is rubbed in.
Another group of drugs acts on the metabolism of uric acid, reducing its synthesis, accelerating excretion in urine and dissolving urate deposits. They are used to prevent attacks and are recommended for long-term use. Similar drugs include:
It is up to the doctor to decide which drug to choose. He will evaluate the pros and cons of each drug to determine the best regimen for each patient. Regular use of such medications will be a good means of prevention so that a gout attack does not return. In complex treatment, you can also prescribe chondroprotectors (Dona, Theraflex), vitamins and microelements (Kalcemin). They may even give intra-articular injections of drugs.
It is impossible to treat gout without medication; this is a mandatory component of the treatment of the disease.
In the chronic form of the disease, patients are also advised to undergo physiotherapeutic procedures. They have an additional effect on the inflammatory process in the joints by normalizing biochemical processes and blood circulation in the tissues. As a rule, the following procedures show good results:
Using these methods, you can reduce the acute pain of gout and the “bump” on the leg. The physiotherapist will determine which one is suitable for a particular patient.
Physical therapy exercises for the affected joints help to effectively treat gout. This is necessary to improve the condition of cartilage tissue, its regeneration and restoration of motor function. In addition, adequate exercise reduces and prevents leg pain associated with the gouty process. But classes cannot be carried out during an acute attack - at this time you need to relieve the joint as much as possible and ensure rest for the foot. And then you can start active exercises, combining them with massage of the periarticular tissues.
Therapeutic exercises are an integral component of the treatment of joint pathology, including gout.
For chronic gout, you can use non-traditional treatments. But we must remember that natural ingredients have a fairly mild effect, which does not occur too quickly. Therefore, they most likely will not relieve an acute attack of gout, but they can still improve the patient’s condition as part of combination therapy. Local and general effects on the body are used, among which the following are worth noting:
You can treat gout with folk remedies at home, but in no case should you forget about medical prescriptions. Moreover, before using any method, it is necessary to consult a specialist in order to avoid unwanted reactions, primarily of an allergic nature.
To get rid of gout pain, you must first consult a doctor and first undergo an examination. And after this, appropriate treatment will be prescribed, which will not only eliminate the symptoms, but also prevent their reappearance.
Gout is considered one of the most common joint diseases in humans. This disease is associated with improper metabolism, which causes the deposition of uric acid in the joints - a white powder. Previously, it was believed that only wealthy people could be susceptible to gout, since only they could afford a lot of food and alcohol. It has now been proven that anyone can suffer from gout. Middle-aged male patients are most often at risk.
Gout does not appear in a person for no reason. Heredity is considered a fundamental factor in the occurrence of the disease. Everything else is just stimulating reasons for the manifestation of signs of the disease. These include:
After its appearance, gout goes through three stages: acute, interictal and chronic. An acute attack of gout is considered the most important, since it is at this stage that the transition to the next stage and the recurrence of the disease can be avoided. This period is characterized by atypical behavior of the patient: he begins to be excessively active or mopey. A person has problems with the digestive system. In some cases, the heartbeat and pulse may also increase, and breathing may become difficult.
The above symptoms of the disease appear prematurely: several days or hours immediately before the attack. During an attack, a person begins to suffer severe pain, the sore spot turns red, swells, and the temperature rises. These symptoms do not disappear for several days or weeks, depending on the treatment given. The next attack of gout may appear only after a month or two.
During an acute attack of gout, not only the patient’s joints, but also his tendons may become inflamed. This disease is dangerous because if it recurs, the ligaments can be so damaged that the person will partially lose the ability to move independently. An attack of gout also affects the functioning of the kidneys, since excess uric salt is excreted through this organ. In some cases, a person may find small nodules under the skin, which not only causes discomfort, but also the need for surgical intervention.
An acute attack of gout is treated mainly with medications. First of all, anti-inflammatory drugs are prescribed, for example, diclofenac. Diclofenac tablets should be taken three times a day, and the ointment should be applied twice a day. In case of an acute attack of gout, only one anti-inflammatory drug is prescribed, since if several are used at once, their effect can be significantly reduced.
If there is very strong inflammation in the body, the patient may be prescribed an anti-inflammatory drug from the glucocorticoid group. When symptoms appear in one or two places that the patient can accurately identify, the doctor injects the drug directly into the lesion. If painful symptoms occur in many places, tablets are used for local action, which are taken several times a day for weeks. Their longer use is possible only after consultation with a doctor.
To maintain the function of other organs after taking the above drugs, blocker drugs are additionally prescribed. They do not carry additional burden on the digestive system and are well absorbed by the body. This group of drugs includes meloxicam, celecoxib, nimesulide.
To relieve an acute attack of gout, the use of colchicine may be prescribed. Colchicine is the most effective medicine when it comes to treating gout. This drug improves metabolism in the body and promotes accelerated removal of uric acid from the body, thereby cleansing the joints, removing pain and redness.
The symptoms of gout can be so severe and painful that immediate measures should be taken to reduce such symptoms, so-called relief. It is worth noting that relief is possible only when the first signs of an acute attack of gout appear. To reduce these symptoms, you should do the following:
In addition to the above methods of treating an acute attack of gout and its relief, it is possible to use a diet that will significantly help get rid of the obvious symptoms of the disease. The gout diet prohibits the consumption of animal offal, veal and lamb meat, fish, legumes, sour greens (sorrel, spinach, lettuce), tomatoes, radishes, and eggplants. It is advisable to enrich your diet with dairy products, eggs, baked goods, fruits, and berries. The menu should also include vegetables and herbs, with the exception of those on the prohibited list.
An acute attack of gout can also be relieved using alternative medicine methods. The most effective among them are:
Bee venom is used as injections into the affected areas. Honey is used to rub joints, thereby relieving external signs of the disease. In some cases, an effective way to relieve an acute attack of gout will be a tincture of dead dried bees. To make it at home, take 100 g of bees per 0.5 liter of alcohol, leave in a cool, dark place for 15 days, then rub the resulting liquid onto the affected area.
They are used to prepare decoctions, tinctures, ointments, and medicinal baths. The most effective herbs in the fight against an acute attack of gout are chamomile, sage, tansy, string, lingonberry, and birch.
So, to prepare an ointment, take dried calendula, vinegar and iodine, mix until a homogeneous mass is formed. Rub this ointment on your joints three times a day. If necessary, you can leave the ointment on overnight, wrapping the affected area with gauze.
To make a medicinal bath, you can take one or more types of the above herbs. Approximately 150 g of each herb is placed in boiling water and cooked for no more than five minutes. Afterwards, the broth is filtered and a bath is taken for no longer than 15 minutes.
Mixing the two above methods leads to the fastest disappearance of gout symptoms and is considered the best way to treat the disease.
It is used to make ointments and baths. To prepare the ointment, take a jar of iodine and half a pack of aspirin, crush it, mix well and rub the affected area twice a day. If gout occurs in the joints of the legs, then you can prepare a bath with iodine in a ratio of 1:3 soda and iodine per 5 liters of water.
The components are taken in equal quantities. This mixture is set on fire until the alcohol evaporates. When the latter evaporates, the ointment is ready for use.
I take this mixture orally in the morning before meals. It should be noted that there should be little vinegar, as it can burn internal organs.
To prepare it, take a head of garlic, two lemons per 3 liters of water. The ingredients need to be crushed and thrown into boiling water for 10 minutes. Afterwards, remove the broth from the heat and take a tablespoon in the morning on an empty stomach.