Tuesday, March 19, 2024

How To Treat Gout In Your Big Toe

The Role Of Uric Acid

Why Do You Get Gout in Your Big Toe?

Uric acid is produced when your body breaks down purines, which are substances naturally found in your body, as well as in protein-rich foods. At normal levels in your blood, uric acid is a powerful antioxidant and does not cause any damage. The body keeps uric acid at a set level by excreting it through the kidneys and in urine.

It is possible to have hyperuricemia and not develop gout. About two-thirds of people with elevated uric acid levels never have gout attacks. It is not known why some people do not react to abnormally high levels of uric acid.

Treating A Gout Attack

The methods of stopping an attack of gout can vary depending on the severity of pain. Your orthopedic physician may give you a shot of corticosteroids. They may also prescribe other types of medications that are specifically designed to treat gout. To ease the pain during a gout attack, rest the joint that hurts. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medicine may also be prescribed to help reduce the pain. The good news is that following treatment, relief from the pain and discomfort of a gout attack often begins within 24 hours. It is important to still make an appointment with your orthopedic physician even if your pain from gout is gone. The buildup of uric acid that led to your gout attack can still harm your joints. An orthopedic physician will help you get relief from the pain of gout attacks and learn ways to prevent flare-ups in the future.

*The blog is for general information and educational purposes only regarding musculoskeletal conditions. The information provided does not constitute the practice of medicine or other healthcare professional services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor-patient relationship is formed. Readers with musculoskeletal conditions should seek the advice of their healthcare professionals without delay for any condition they have. The use of the information is at the readers own risk. The content is not intended to replace diagnosis, treatment or medical advice from your treating healthcare professional.

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Points To Remember About Gout

  • Gout is a type of arthritis that causes pain and swelling in your joints, usually as flares that last for a week or two, and then go away.
  • With early diagnosis, treatment, and lifestyle changes, gout is one of the most controllable forms of arthritis.
  • The most common symptom of gout is pain in the affected joint, such as the big toe.
  • Your doctor may recommend taking medications to manage the cause of your gout and treat active gout flares, and making changes to your diet and lifestyle.

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How To Treat Gout

This article was medically reviewed by Siddharth Tambar, MD. Dr. Siddharth Tambar, MD is a board certified rheumatologist at Chicago Arthritis and Regenerative Medicine in Chicago, Illinois. With over 19 years of experience, Dr. Tambar specializes in Regenerative Medicine and Rheumatology, with a focus on Platelet rich plasma and Bone marrow derived stem cell treatments for arthritis, tendinitis, injuries, and back pain. Dr. Tambar holds a BA in Economics from State University of New York at Buffalo. He earned his MD from State University of New York at Syracuse. He completed his Internship, Residency in Internal Medicine, and his Rheumatology Fellowship at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Dr Tambar is board certified in both rheumatology and internal medicine. He also holds Musculoskeletal Ultrasound Diagnostic and Interventional certifications from the American College of Rheumatology and the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine.There are 7 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page.wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. In this case, 100% of readers who voted found the article helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. This article has been viewed 171,544 times.

What Can Trigger A Gout Attack

Gout Home Remedies: What Works and What Doesn

Several things can cause the crystals to shake loose into your joint cavity, triggering an attack. These include:

  • a knock or injury to the joint
  • an illness that may make you feverish
  • having an operation
  • having an unusually large meal, especially a fatty meal
  • drinking too much alcohol
  • dehydration
  • starting urate lowering therapy, especially at a high dose, or not taking your treatment regularly each day.

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Treating Gout With Medications

Certain medications reduce the pain and inflammation of gout attacks, such as anti-inflammatory drugs , colchicine, and corticosteroids. Other medications decrease the level of uric acid in the blood and prevent the deposit of uric acid in joints , the kidneys , and in tissue , helping to prevent further attacks and complications. These drugs include allopurinol, febuxostat, lesinurad, and probenicid.

How Are Gout Attacks Prevented

Maintaining adequate fluid intake helps prevent acute gout attacks and decreases the risk of kidney stone formation in people with gout. Alcohol is known to have diuretic effects that can contribute to dehydration and precipitate acute gout attacks. Alcohol can also affect uric acid metabolism and cause hyperuricemia. It causes gout by slowing down the excretion of uric acid from the kidneys as well as by causing dehydration, which precipitates the crystals in the joints.

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Home Remedies For Long

The American College of Rheumatology recommends a couple of lifestyle modifications for preventing future attacks of gout:

1) Lose weight if you need to. Being overweight can increase uric acid levels as well as put pressure on the joints.

2) Follow a low-purine diet. Another effective way to reduce uric acid levels is to follow a low-purine diet. Purines are organic compounds that break down into uric acid. Following a low-purine diet means avoiding the big four alcohol, shellfish, red meat, and high fructose corn syrup.

Limiting these foods is also beneficial for heart health and people with gout are at higher risk for heart disease.

But dont go overboard with dietary changes to relieve gout pain though, advises Dr. Fields. You can find lists of thousands of different foods youre not supposed to have if you have gout. Those recommendations are impossible to follow and can make you crazy.

What Are The Signs And Symptoms Of Gout

Gout in the big toe joint or the foot: *Complete Home Guide*

Gout flares start suddenly and can last days or weeks. These flares are followed by long periods of remissionweeks, months, or yearswithout symptoms before another flare begins. Gout usually occurs in only one joint at a time. It is often found in the big toe. Along with the big toe, joints that are commonly affected are the lesser toe joints, the ankle, and the knee.

Symptoms in the affected joint may include:

  • Pain, usually intense

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What Is Gout Know The Signs And Risk Factors

4 Minute Read

Medically Reviewed by UPMC Orthopaedic Care

Gout is a potentially debilitating form of inflammatory arthritis that causes pain, redness, stiffness, and swelling in your joints. More than 8 million people in the United States have gout.

The condition usually affects one joint at a time. About half of all gout attacks begin in the big toe, but it also can occur in the ankles, heels, knees, wrists, fingers, and elbows.

Although gout can cause pain, it can be managed with proper treatment.

Risk Factors For Gout

Obesity, excessive weight gain, especially in youth, moderate to heavy alcohol intake, high blood pressure, diabetes, and abnormal kidney function are among the risk factors for developing gout. Certain drugs and diseases can also cause elevated levels of uric acid. Also, there is an increased prevalence of abnormally low thyroid hormone levels in patients with gout.

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Why Do I Suffer From Gout

One word: hyperuricemia. Or, in other words, increased uric acid in your blood. This is the reason why your joints are painful and inflamed. Uric acid is a normal product in your body it is a substance that breaks down purines in your body which are found in certain foods that we eat, in addition to being found in human cells. When your body overproduces uric acid, youre at risk for developing gout. But, why would your body overproduce uric acid?

The triggers of hyperuricemia include:

  • Injury
  • Excessive alcohol consumption
  • Eating large amounts of red meat and shellfish
  • Dehydration
  • Drinking sugary sodas

It is these types of triggers that can create the hyperuricemia, which can result in gout. When you overproduce uric acid, your kidneys have to work harder to flush out the extra uric acid out of your bloodstream, as they would normally do.

The End Of Gout Your Quick Start Plan

Foot Gout Symptoms, Causes &  Best Home Remedies!

Shelly Mannings The End of Gout is not only a fascinating read its also refreshingly practical.

Shelly gives you two simple quick-starts:

Eat more of these

Eat fewer of these

This simple adjustment can correct years of gout-causing errors within your eating. And you can start on this straight within minutes of receiving the program away.That really helped my problem of How To Treat Gout In The Big Toe.

The next step is to follow Shellys 7-day plan.

It tightens up the quick start advice and turns it into a solid, follow-along program.

The 7-day plan was the real clincher for me.

I am a pretty average cook Im competent but not at all skilled or adventurous. Turns out I didnt need to be.

The plan takes away all the thinking and gives me, for the first week, something I can simply copy.

After the first 7 days I used Shellys advice to adapt the plan according to my own tastes.

Which was pretty easy the plan is full of options so you can try different foods and see what you like best.

Its all food you can buy in your supermarket. And it includes lots of nice stuff the chocolate and strawberries desserts were real winners in my house!

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How Can I Manage My Gout And Improve My Quality Of Life

Gout affects many aspects of daily living, including work and leisure activities. Fortunately, there are many low-cost self-management strategies that are proven to improve the quality of life of people with gout.

For gout in particular:

  • Eat a healthy diet. Avoid foods that may trigger a gout flare, including foods high in purines , and limit alcohol intake .

CDCs Arthritis Program recommends five self-management strategies for managing arthritis and its symptoms. These can help with gout as well.

  • Talk to your doctor. You can play an active role in controlling your arthritis by attending regular appointments with your health care provider and following your recommended treatment plan. This is especially important if you also have other chronic conditions, like diabetes or heart disease.
  • Lose weight. For people who are overweight or obese, losing weight reduces pressure on joints, particularly weight bearing joints like the hips and knees. Reaching or maintaining a healthy weight can relieve pain, improve function, and slow the progression of arthritis.
  • Protect your joints. Joint injuries can cause or worsen arthritis. Choose activities that are easy on the joints like walking, bicycling, and swimming. These low-impact activities have a low risk of injury and do not twist or put too much stress on the joints. Learn more about how to exercise safely with arthritis.
  • Southern Cross Medical Library

    The purpose of the Southern Cross Medical Library is to provide information of a general nature to help you better understand certain medical conditions. Always seek specific medical advice for treatment appropriate to you. This information is not intended to relate specifically to insurance or healthcare services provided by Southern Cross. For more articles go to the Medical Library index page.

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    What Happens At Your Appointment

    The GP may ask about your diet and if you drink alcohol.

    They may refer you to see a specialist and arrange a blood test and scan. Sometimes a thin needle is used to take a sample of fluid from inside the affected joint, to test it.

    The blood test will find out how much of a chemical called uric acid there is in your blood.

    Having too much uric acid in your blood can lead to crystals forming around your joints, which causes pain.

    Causes Of Gout Flares

    Gout Big Toe Joint Treatment [BEST Home Remedies 2021]

    Gout, a type of inflammatory arthritis, happens when levels of uric acid a normal byproduct of metabolic reactions in your body become too high, says Kenneth Saag, MD, professor of medicine in the division of clinical immunology and rheumatology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. When this substance cant be sufficiently dissolved and excreted in the urine, it starts to crystallize, and those crystals deposit themselves in joints where they cause severe inflammation.

    Certain risk factors, such as having a family history/genetic predisposition or having chronic kidney disease, can affect the development of gout over time. Taking certain medications , a high alcohol or sugar intake, or eating high-purine foods can trigger a gout flare. Read more about what causes gout here.

    If youre new to gout, your doctor will need to confirm the diagnosis, as it can sometimes masquerade as other ailments that impact the joints . Your doctor will likely use a needle to remove some fluid from the swollen joint, then examine it under a microscope to confirm that it contains uric acid crystals.

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    Ways To Deal With Painful Gout Attacks

    Its difficult to focus on work or other daily activities when youre experiencing gout inflammation and pain. Symptoms can last for a few days or even weeks, with the worst pain usually occurring in the first day or two.

    While the best thing to do is talk to your physician, there are several steps you can take right away ease your gout symptoms:

    Excess uric acid in the bloodstream can lead to the formation of uric acid crystals in one or more joints, resulting in gout.Read:All About Gout – Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment

    How To Treat A Gout Flare

    Different medications can be used to address gout, but when youre in the midst of a gout flare, the number-one goal is pain management. Because the pain is so severe, its really important to try to bring it under control quickly, says Dr. Saag.

    Even though gout is caused by uric acid buildup, now is not the time to start a drug thats specifically designed to lower uric acid levels.

    Instead, your doctor will likely prescribe a higher dose of a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug , such as naproxen, or a steroid medication like prednisone. Your doctor might also inject a steroid directly into the affected joint, or, if the pain is bad enough, start you on an intravenous version of it, says Dr. Saag.

    Colchicin is another medication that is sometimes used to manage gout flares. This drug is not a traditional pain reliever, since it doesnt seem to relieve pain caused by other conditions. According to a Cochrane Review, about 40 out of 100 people who use colchine during a gout attack rated their pain 50 percent lower than those who took a placebo, but theres also a high risk of side effects like vomiting, nausea, and diarrhea, especially when taken at high doses.

    If youve had gout flares before and are now seeing a new provider or are being treated in the emergency room, be sure to tell the doctor about the treatments youve previously tried during an acute episode and how well they worked for you.

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    How Does A Doctor Diagnose Gout

    If you have sudden or severe pain in a joint, you should talk to your primary care provider . Your PCP may send you to a rheumatologist, a doctor who specializes in gout and other kinds of arthritis.

    Healthcare providers consider several things when confirming gout:

    • Symptoms: The provider will ask you to describe your symptoms, how often they happen and how long they last.
    • Physical examination: Your provider will examine the affected joint to look for swelling, redness and warmth.
    • Blood work: A test can measure the amount of uric acid in your blood.
    • Imaging tests: You may have pictures taken of the affected joint with X-rays, an ultrasound or MRI.
    • Aspiration: The provider may use a needle to pull fluid from the joint. Using a microscope, a team member can look for uric acid crystals or a different problem .

    Treatment Of The Gout Of The Big Toe

    6 Natural Ways To Treat Gout Attack

    Gout can not be cured completely: treatment is only used symptomatic, to ease the condition during attacks. Typically, prescribed analgesics and anti-inflammatory drugs, as well as drugs that lower the level of urate sodium in the bloodstream.

    • Drugs designed to control the level of uric acid:
    • Allopurinol is a remedy that interferes with the production of urate sodium. The average dosage of the drug per day is 200 mg. The scheme of therapy is determined by the doctor individually
    • Phoebusostat is a drug-inhibitor of xanthine oxidase, which suppresses and reduces the amount of uric acid. The average dosage of Phoebusostat is 80 mg / day
    • Peglotisis is a new drug, an enzyme that causes the splitting of uric acid to a neutral substance. Single dose of the drug – 8 mg
    • Santuril is a medication that blocks the formation of uric acid stones and promotes their excretion from the body.
  • Medications for symptomatic treatment of gout:
  • Colchicine – a remedy for the elimination of a gouty attack. The effect occurs within 12 hours after taking the drug. It is used in accordance with the scheme of treatment agreed with the doctor, from 1 to 3 tablets up to 3 times a day
  • Prednisolone – anti-inflammatory, anti-edematous, antitoxic drug, analogue of hormones of the adrenal cortex. Apply up to 4-6 tablets per day, depending on the situation
  • nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs – drugs that reduce the signs of inflammation and intoxication. Dosage – from 400 to 800 mg three times a day.
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