When you are suffering from gout, one of the symptoms that you experience is severe pain that prevents you from enjoying your life. The pain causes a lot of discomfort and is usually coupled with stiffness of the joints that are affected making it hard for you to move. The initial priority when it comes to treating gout is relieving the pain.
One method that you can use to alleviate gout pain effectively is taking pain medications. The most commonly prescribed pain medications are the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or NSAIDs in short. They are effective in treating swelling, inflammation and pain and in the case of gout, the most well known are Motrin, Allopurinol, Colchicine and Advil.
Pain medications are beneficial in that they bring about fast gout pain relief. Some of these medications also bring down the levels of uric acid in the body in a long term manner and this helps in preventing future attacks of gout. Gout pain medications may cause side effects such as skin reaction, stomach ulcers, queasy stomach and vomiting. For this reason, you can use other methods of relieving gout pain.
These methods involve the use of herbal, natural and other therapies, which also reduce the chances of gout reoccurring. Natural remedies involve eating foods with high concentrations of ascorbic acid, which naturally resists inflammation. One well known gout treatment that is natural is cherries. You can also use frozen or chilled cabbage leaves to relieve gout pain by placing them directly onto the irritated joint.
You can also alleviate gout pain by taking the right types of foods. You should avoid taking foods that have high concentrations of purines and these include all types of protein foods. Purine is the substance that leads to the production of uric acid in the body. The crystals of uric acid are responsible for forming the tissues around the joints that cause severe pain. Other food items that have high concentrations of purines include herring, organ meat such as liver, mushrooms, meat extracts, cauliflower, spinach, asparagus and all drinks containing alcohol.
The diet that you should take in order to alleviate gout pain is one that contains foods that are high in complex carbohydrates. This includes foods such as whole grains, vegetables and fruits. Dark cherries such as strawberries and blueberries are especially recommended for gout treatment. Other beneficial fruits are tomatoes, celery and bananas. When taking dairy products, you should ensure that they are low in fat.
You should also take a lot of water because it too is helpful in alleviating gout pain. By consuming a lot of water, you decrease the urate levels in your body. You should seek to take ten to twelve glasses of water daily so that your body will be able to get rid of the excess urate through urine.
By taking foods or drinks that neutralize uric acid, you will easily reduce the frequency and intensity of gout pain. You can also alleviate gout pain by taking pharmaceutical grade fish oil in dosages of five to ten grams each day.