Gout is a type of a condition called arthritis. It occurs as a result of too much uric acid in the blood. When you eat foods like seafood and red meat, your body breaks down purine which is a substance found in food like that. The process of this breakdown is what produces uric acid. However the body also produces its share of uric acid.
Normally, uric acid dissolves in the blood, goes down to the kidney, and is then flushed out through the urine. But in the case of gout, your body is unable to process the uric acid either because of an issue with the kidney, or a high level of uric acid. When that happens, the uric acid in the blood increases, which causes sharp crystals to form and accumulate in the joints (usually around the big toe). In this article, we’re going to be looking at the diagnosis and treatment of gout.
How is Gout Diagnosed?
Firstly, you’ll be asked about the symptoms of gout that you may be experiencing, like how painful it was, and whether or not the symptoms were triggered by anything. Then, the doctor will look at the joint in question and see the extent of tenderness and swelling. He can do that by lightly tapping on the affected area.
Furthermore, a blood test will be needed in order to check uric acid levels. The next couple of tests are inflammatory markers to help evaluate the presence of inflammation in the body. These tests include C-reactive protein (CRP), or erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR).
In some cases, where necessary, the doctor will use a needle to extract the fluid from the affected joint. Then some of the fluid is examined under the microscope to check for uric acid crystals.
Treatment of Gout
Managing a gout attack: A gout attack can be really painful when it hits. The main goal is to stop the pain as fast as possible. You might be giving pinky like ibuprofen to help bring down the swelling and also the pain.
The next thing you can do to ease the pain of the gout is to cold compress the swollen joint, which can help to reduce the pain. You can also try to rest your foot and keep your foot up, it might make a difference.
Lifestyle: There are certain things that you can do in order to prevent future gout attacks. One of the many things that you can do is to manage your weight. If you keep a healthy weight, you can reduce the stress on your joints and also lower your chances of getting another gout attack.
Secondly you have to watch what you eat if the food that you eat is high in purines like the food examples mentioned earlier on in the article, you need to change what you eat. This will help you prevent you with acid from building up in your blood.
Medication: Sometimes even with lifestyle changes and preventive measures gout tends to come back. To keep the gout from Columbus recommend medicine that lowers uric acid levels, like allopurinol. The essence of this medication is basically to prevent those painful and sharp crystals from forming in your joints again.
Conclusion
If you have gout that keeps coming back even after you’ve tried different preventive measures, or it becomes a long-term issue, then you have to stick with a plan that basically includes lifestyle changes and medicine to help keep your uric acid level under control.
In addition, it is also important that you visit the doctor regularly to keep an eye on your uric acid level so that when anything is going off you get notified immediately and you can keep your uric acid level down again.
