5 Tips To Keep A Gout Attack At Bay

Content

• Managing A Gout Flare
• New Gout Treatment Guidelines Emphasize Genetic Risk, Need For Medications
• Can I Prevent Gout?
• Preventing And Controlling Painful Gout Attacks
• How Is Gout Diagnosed?
• Utilisation Of Health Services

In addition to prescription medications, you can also do several things to manage gout on your own, which might include some lifestyle changes. In extreme gout cases, gout surgery may be a viable option after repeated flares for many years. From a lifestyle perspective, you can control gout by modifying your diet and lifestyle.

Can you get gout with low uric acid?

Uric acid levels in males and females
High uric acid levels can increase the risk of gout. It is unusual to have low uric acid levels, but it is possible if a person passes too much uric acid out of their body as waste.

The body will filter out most of the uric acid through the kidneys into the urine. When the body is producing too much uric acid, or the kidneys are unable to filter and get rid of enough uric acid, it can build up in the blood stream. The high concentration of uric acid will want to settle out of the blood.

Managing A Gout Flare

The self-management strategies described below are proven to reduce pain and disability, so you can pursue the activities important to you. physician for maintenance treatment that may involve daily medication. In cases of repeated episodes, the underlying problem must be addressed, as the build-up of uric acid over time can cause arthritic damage to the joint. Although more expensive than allopurinol, febuxostat is an option for patients who cannot take probenecid or allopurinol.

Gout causes intense pain and swelling around one or more joints. Gout most commonly affects the joint at the base of the big toe. 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 bedsheet on it may seem intolerable. For acute attacks of gout, a key is treating as quickly as possible and choosing a medication least likely to cause side-effects, with special attention to individual co-morbidities. For chronic prevention of gout, the essential message is that present treatments work in a huge majority of patients, and are generally well-tolerated.

Is gout pain worse than a broken bone?

23% of patients compare the pain of a gout attack to shattered glass piercing their skin, 28% to breaking a bone, 34% to a severe burn, and 37% to a stubbed toe. 27% of gout patients say the disease causes them to take to their beds and take time off from work.

When you have a gout attack, pain relief is your first goal. It’s important to call your doctor even if the pain has stopped. The uric acid buildup that triggered your gout attack may still be irritating your joints and could eventually cause serious damage, like joint destruction and kidney damage.

New Gout Treatment Guidelines Emphasize Genetic Risk, Need For Medications

Uric acid usually dissolves and goes away, however if the body is producing too much, or if the kidneys aren’t getting rid of enough uric acid it will build up. When the acid accumulates, it results in sharp crystals that look similar to needles. These cause pain, swelling and inflammation in the affected areas.

Most importantly, one should start drug treatment during the first few days of an attack to get the best results. Early diagnosis of gout is important because crystals within the joint can lead to joint damage and this can occur without you knowing it. Patients with arthritic episodes that come and go may not seek medical help. Some patients are medically evaluated but complete testing is not done and they are misdiagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. Either of these situations will delay treatment and increase the risk of erosive damage to the joint. The first attack of gouty arthritis usually happens in just one joint.

A diet low in fats and calories, combined with a regular exercise regime can help decrease the likelihood of a gout attack. The large joint at the base of the big toe is the most common site for a gout attack but other joints commonly affected are the ankles, knees, wrists, fingers, and elbows. The large joint at the base of the big toe is the most common site for a gout attack, however, any other joint can be affected.

Tophi are chalky deposits of uric acid that look like little lumps under the skin of the affected joint. They usually develop only after you’ve had gout for several years. In addition to pain and inflammation, there are some other signs and symptoms of a gout attack you should look for. When you have a gout attack, the pain is constant, and the severity of the pain can fluctuate throughout the attack.

Learn more about CDC-recommended physical activity programs. A medical doctor diagnoses gout by assessing your symptoms and the results of your physical examination, X-rays, and lab tests. Gout can only be diagnosed during a flare when a joint is hot, swollen, and painful and when a lab test finds uric acid crystals in the affected joint. Gout attacks are caused by deposits of crystallized uric acid in the joint.

In addition to helping prevent future attacks, colchicine may effectively reduce inflammation during an acute gout attack. During the acute or early phase of a gout attack, doctors prescribe medicines called colchicine, certain nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs , and corticosteroids to decrease swelling and relieve pain. The sooner they are given after an attack starts, the faster the pain goes away. These drugs may be given by mouth, through an intravenous line into your bloodstream, or injected directly into the joint. There are some potential adverse side effects of these medications. It may take a bit of time to find the most effective drug with the least intolerable side effects for some patients.

Preventing And Controlling Painful Gout Attacks

You may be able to reduce your chances of getting a gout attack by limiting or avoiding shellfish, organ meats (kidney, liver, etc.), red wine, beer and red meat. Local injection of crystalline preparations of corticosteroid can be an excellent option if a person has a single joint gout attack. Formulations injected include methylprednisolone acetate (Depo-Medrol®), triamcinolone (Aristospan®), and betamethasone (Celestone®). Of these preparations, betamethasone lasts the shortest time in the joint of these preparations, but gout tends to be self-limited within a few weeks, in any case, so this option can be quite successful. The advantage of betamethasone is a decreased likelihood of temporarily worsened flares the day after the injection, which is the most common adverse reaction to local steroid injections. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents and COX-2 inhibitors are the mainstay of therapy of acute attacks of gout in patients who have no contra-indication to them.

How Is Gout Diagnosed?

In some cases, the large nodules of uric acid around finger or toe joints, tendons, or bursae need to be removed because they remain painfully inflamed. These nodules may also break open and drain or become infected. Being overweight and drinking too much alcohol can increase your risk for gout. Though there usually isn’t much warning a gout attack is on the way, there are steps you can take right away, which will make sure the treatment is most effective.

Colchicine is usually given to patients who cannot take NSAIDs. In severe cases when medication doesn’t help your symptoms, you may need a surgical procedure to eliminate uric acid crystals that accumulate in your affected joint. Some people with kidney disease, stomach ulcers and other health problems are unable to take NSAIDs. If you have sudden or severe pain in a joint, you should talk to your primary care provider . Your PCP may send you to a rheumatologist, a doctor who specializes in gout and other kinds of arthritis.

Utilisation Of Health Services

Pain relievers and anti-inflammatory medications are the mainstay of treatment for gout. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs , colchicine , and corticosteroids are used to decrease joint inflammation. In extreme cases of recurrent gout, surgery may be needed to remove the uric acid crystals from the joint to prevent further damage. Our podiatrists will always look for conservative options first, and only suggest surgery when absolutely necessary.