By: Richard Bleuze
Below are seven gout secrets that your doctor most likely never told you. They are:
1) Reduce purine intake, and eat a balance diet.
Eating purine-rich foods has been one cause for gout. You may ask, "How do I know which foods are high in purine?" It is hard to know unless given the information.
Purine foods are any foods which drive up uric acid levels. They include: beer, or any form of alcohol, yeast, anchovies, sardines, organ meat, legumes, meat extracts, mushrooms, spinach, asparagus, and cauliflower.
According to the American Medical Association (2006), a person who suffers from gout should establish a balanced diet and consists of elevated levels of complex carbohydrates, 15% from protein and 30% from fat.
2) Know your options.
Gout contributes to pain in your joints. Nobody wants to feel ongoing pain. Instead they want to feel healthy like they can go anywhere and do anything.
Learn all you can about gout. Know that you are not alone. Other people feel the pain with you. Discuss your options with your healthcare professional.
3) When you get your gout under control, exercise your joints.
Range of motion exercises relieve stiffness and keep your joints moving. For example, a range of motion exercise for your arm is to move it, starting with your elbow in a circle.
Strengthening exercises increase and maintain muscle strength. These exercises include lifting weights to increase the strength of your muscles.
Endurance exercises give you energy, strengthen your heart, and control your weight. For example, endurance exercises include walking, swimming, and cycling.
Any kind of moderate stretching exercises can increase joint flexibility around the afflicted joint. Low-impact exercises like walking, swimming, stationary bicycling, and water aerobics can maintain flexibility and strength while increasing endurance. Always consult with your doctor before beginning any new exercise program.
Exercising your joints is an important part of working with gout. You simply can't ignore exercise as a part of your treatment.
4) Chronic gout can progress into kidney stones.
Ongoing gout can progress to the formation of uric acid stones called kidney stones.
Kidney stone sufferers first complain of pain in their abdomen, flank, or groin. Uric acid stones form in these areas when there is a decline in urine volume or an abundance of stone-forming substances in the urine.
You may know of a friend or family member who suffers from this condition. However, it is actually more difficult to find a person with gout who has kidney stones.
In fact, according to a 2002 research study, the actual prevalence of kidney stones with gout sufferers was 13%.
Understanding that chronic gout can progress into kidney stones is an important step to preventing this progression.
5) Drink more fluids to help your kidneys work as they should.
Consuming adequate amount of water throughout the day will help your kidneys. Water consumption helps eliminate toxins and waste products. Without water, your body does not function as it should. After all, approximately 60% of your body consists of water.
Your kidneys need the right balance of your body products in order to work efficiently. Drinking plenty of water an important component to treating gout.
6) Gout affects 840 out of 100,000 people.
Did you know that gout afflicts approximately 840 out of 100,000 people. Most gout sufferers are male between the ages of 40 and 50 years old. Gout typically does not afflict children and young adults.
Usually, gout affects the joints in the large toe before it affects other joints, such as ankles, heels, knees, fingers, wrists, and elbows.
The doctor diagnoses gout by uric acid crystals in the joint fluid during an acute gout attack. Learn all you can about this condition. Knowledge, along with action, empowers you to relieve the symptoms. Know that you are not alone. Other people feel the pain with you. Discuss your options with your healthcare professional.
Knowing your options is an important part of working with gout.
7) Don't ignore gout. Treat it instead.
Don't just sit there! Gout needs to be taken seriously. Visit your doctor to be tested for gout. If he diagnoses you with gout, rest the inflamed joint and elevate it.
Then, apply ice to the gouty joint area 25 minutes on and 25 minutes off. Avoid applying ice directly on the skin. Instead, wrap ice into a damp towel.
Avoid placing clothes directly to the gouty area to avoid progressive joint exacerbation.
Hopefully, the above gout secrets that your doctor most likely never told you will be useful in treating your gout pain!
