Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Remedies for Gout

When it comes to treating gout, there are quite a few remedies for gout you can use. Between prescription drugs such as Allopurinol or Colchicine, or over the counter medications such as Ibuprofen, you can also use natural gout remedies.

Some of these natural remedies for gout would include using cherries for gout, or most fruits for that matter due to their potassium and vitamin C content. Potassium and vitamin C have been found in studies to help lower uric acid levels.

Other options you can use to treat this debilitating disease are using herbal gout remedies. These would include such remedies as celery seed and its extract. Other available treatments would include a variety of home remedies for gout such as ice, baking soda, and preventative measures including losing weight.

Which method should you consider when choosing how to deal with this medical problem? That is primarily up to you and your physician and which method you are comfortable with. I've used all of these methods to varying degrees of success.

One concern with those who have this condition is they usually only try to fix the symptoms of gout and then go back to normal behavior when they are not suffering a gout attack. In the end, this will only lead to more problems down the road.

Ultimately, the best gout treatments methods are those that are even when it is not a painful incident you are dealing with it. Prevention is paramount for long term success. Neglecting this disease when it appears to be in remission eventually will destroy your joints, possibly permanently. Not to mention, the same problems that usually cause gout, also cause other more serious diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and stroke.

If you have gout, visit your doctor and to talk about all the options available to you so you can prevent and treat this disease. The treatments you and your physician come up with may be different than someone you know who has gout. Depending on whether your gout is caused by too much uric acid creation or your inability to properly metabolize uric acid will determine what type of medication you use should you choose to go that route. Your physician will do a simple blood test to figure out which case you belong to. Even if you choose not to use medicine to fix your problem, you should still know what your uric acid levels are as a starting point to see how your methods are working for you so you can decide if you need to change course. Just because you have a gout attack after trying these gout remedies does not necessarily mean these remedies will not work for you, it takes time. In fact, if you use allopurinol, most physicians will give you an anti-inflammatory medication such as indocin because you will likely have an attack until the medication starts to work. This is not uncommon in many cures for gout. It simply takes time to help alleviate the underlying causes.