Gout treatment is vital if you’re experiencing the pain and discomfort that’s common with this condition. At Arthritis & Osteoporosis, we can effectively treat, diagnose, and help you manage gout. First, to understand how to manage the condition, it’s important to understand how it’s cause, what the symptoms are, and how to treat it so you can maintain a degree of comfort while reducing pain.
If you’re experiencing the symptoms of gout and are unsure if you have the condition, our practitioners can diagnose it and treat it.
What is Gout?
Gout is one of the most common forms of inflammatory arthritis that’s characterized by severe and sudden painful attacks on one or more joints, most commonly with the feet. This is due to a buildup of uric crystals in the joints, which can affect the mobility and cause a painful sensation.
What Causes Gout?
The cause of gout is the buildup of uric crystals in the joints. However, the cause of the buildup varies across a variety of factors like diet, medical conditions, age, genetics, and even medications:
- Dietary Habits: high consumption of purine-rich foods like shellfish, red meat, high-sugar foods and drinks, and alcohol can raise the levels of uric acid.
- Medical Conditions: obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and kidney disease can all result in gout.
- Genetics: gout can be a condition passed down through the family.
- Medications: taking diuretics, immunosuppressants, and low-dose aspirin regularly could potentially cause a buildup of uric acid.
- Age: gout typically occurs with men ages 30-50 and post-menopausal women.
What are the Symptoms of Gout?
It’s important to recognize gout symptoms in order to get properly diagnosed and treated. Gout typically affects the big toe first, resulting in stiffness, inflammation, and acute severe pain. It can later spread to ankles and knees, but elbows and wrists can also be affected.
On top of the severe pain that gout can cause, it can affect mobility and lower the quality of life. If you’re experiencing pain and mobility issues due to gout, it’s important to seek treatment and management to help alleviate the pain and help increase your mobility.
Finding Gout Treatment
Once you’re diagnosed with gout, it’s important to seek treatment for it to alleviate the symptoms. Typically, a combination of medicines is administered like NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) and corticosteroids to help manage flare ups. Once flares are resolved, special uric acid-reducing medicines are introduced to help combat the buildup of the crystals.
While treatment can be effective, it’s also important to change your lifestyle, particularly with bad dietary habits. You should limit purine-rich foods, sugars, and alcoholic beverages (particularly beer). You’ll also want to get in the habit of exercise when possible to help reduce excess weight, as well as stay hydrated to reduce the risk of kidney stones.
Get Gout Treatment Today
As you can see, gout can be managed with the right medications and lifestyle changes. If you’re experiencing the symptoms of gout and need to get diagnosed, or you’re aware of your gout prognosis and are seeking treatment, you can look to us at Arthritis & Osteoporosis Associates.
Schedule a visit with us today!
