The Gout Signs Symptoms Treatment & Visiting The Doctor
Hopefully, you will never experience the unwanted symptoms of gout, which can include the immediate onset of torturous discomfort. But if you are ever progressing through your daily activities and are suddenly jolted by the reality of extreme pain in the joint of your big toe, then there is a great likelihood that you have developed a case of gout.
The discomfort can be so agonizing that many patients feel compelled to seek emergency care, and it has been stated that when asked to rate their level of pain on a scale of 1-10, the majority of gout patients have ranked their discomfort at either nine or 10.
Are There Any Side Effects Of Consuming Tart Cherry Juice
Too much of anything is bad. Overconsumption of tart cherry juice could cause diarrheabecause of the prevalence of high amounts of sorbitol a type of sugar alcohol and excessive fiber. Moreover, if you are allergic to tart cherry juice, it would be advisable to consult a doctor first.
Important Notice:
How You Can Reduce The Risk
There are steps that can be taken to diminish the possibility of experiencing gout, and it should be understood that they largely involve making a conscious effort to avoid the items that were just mentioned as risk factors for this painful condition. That begins with a recommendation to maintain a healthy diet. and to abstain from eating foods that contain high levels of uric acid. This involves items that contain purines, which were listed previously . Considering that the consumption of alcohol raises the potential for experiencing gout, it is logical to recommend that managing alcohol intake will also reduce the risk. Remaining active through a regular exercise regimen is also critical, as physical activity will not only provide you with numerous benefits both physically and mentally, but remaining active is also essential in helping with weight control. Retaining a healthy weight will decrease the strain on your joints, knees, and hips, while also making it easier for you to sustain an effective exercise regimen that can be essential toward avoiding this condition.
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Hospitals With Online Teleconsult
Some hospitals are now offering paid online consultation services. You can now book an appointment based on your preferred hospital or the type of doctor that you wish to talk to. Online consultation using a phone, messenger or chat is now available for patients at home.
Read:Online Check Up With Doctors
What To Expect During Your Visit
Whether you see a general doctor or a specialist for your gout, be prepared to answer a number of questions to help them during your diagnosis. Your doctor may ask:
- What are your symptoms?
- When did you first experience them?
- Is this the first time you have experienced this?
- Do your symptoms come and go? Are they constant?
- Could you identify anything in particular or different that you might have done to trigger these symptoms, such as eating certain foods or your current physical or emotional state?
- Are you currently being treated for any other medical conditions?
- What medications are you currently taking, including prescriptions, over-the-counter drugs as well as vitamins and supplements?
- Do you or are you aware of a history of gout in your family?
- What does your diet typically comprise of?
- Do you drink alcohol? If so, how much and how often?
Depending on your answers and the doctor’s observation, you may have to undergo further exams or testing to confirm the diagnosis of gout. These exams and test may include:
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Whats The Outlook For People With Gout
Untreated gout can lead to permanent joint damage. The buildup of uric acid in the joints and soft tissue is called tophus. Some people with gout can also develop other health problems, such as severe arthritis, kidney stones and heart disease. Its important to discuss your symptoms with a healthcare provider.
Time To Call The Doctor
A gout attack will usually go away in about 3 to 10 days. But you can feel better sooner if you treat it. To be sure that you have gout, see your doctor. Theyâll examine you, and they might do some tests.
These test help your doctor know if you have gout, or something else with similar symptoms:
- Joint fluid test. Fluid is taken from the painful joint with a needle. The fluid is studied under a microscope to see if the crystals are there.
- Blood test. A blood test can check the level of uric acid. A high level of uric acid doesnât always mean gout.
- X-ray. Images of the joints will help rule out other problems.
- Ultrasound. This painless test uses sound waves to look for areas of uric acid deposits.
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A Rheumatologist Never Stops Learning About Gout
To maintain their board certifications, rheumatologists must keep up with new developments in their field. They must complete continuing education and renew their licenses every few years, depending on the state in which they practice and other factors. By following these requirements, board-certified rheumatologists stay on top of new treatments and discoveries about the mechanisms involved in gout, so they can then provide their patients with insightful, informed, and up-to-date treatment plans.
Can I Get Gout Pain Relief Without A Doctor
You can get temporary pain relief by taking anti-inflammatory medications. Some common over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medications are aspirin, ibuprofen and naproxen. The best way to relieve gout pain and prevent future gout attacks is to consider dietary and lifestyle changes to help reduce uric acid production in the body.
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Tart Cherry Juice For Gout
Gout is a type of inflammatory arthritis that is caused when there is a deposition of uric acid in the blood. The uric acid gets deposited as crystals in the joints, leading to sudden inflammation and pain. The areas where gout commonly occurs are around the joints of the ankle, big toe, and knee. According to the Arthritis Foundation, approximately 6 million American men, as well as 2 million American women, suffer from this condition. Tart cherry juice is attributed to help reduce gout-related pain.
According to a 2014 study in the Journal of Functional Foods, a team of British researchers stated that drinking Montmorency tart juice helped decline blood levels of gout-producing uric acid and raise certain anthocyanin compounds in the bloodstream. Anthocyanins are antioxidants that are not only responsible for the color of the fruit but also to reduce any kind of inflammation in the body, which is vital in the treatment of gout.
A study published by a team of researchers from the Boston University School of Medicine in the Arthritis and Rheumatology Journal noted that when 633 people were administered with cherries over a two-day period, there was nearly a 35% reduced risk of gout attacks compared with no intake. This goes to show that when cherries are consumed in any form, which is as a whole or as a tart cherry extract or supplement, there will be a reduction in gout pain.
Preparing For Your Visit
Many of the readers on our site take our free quiz and bring it to their doctors before they go. You can take it here.
In order to maximize your time and ensure that you are on the path to relief and recovery right away, it’s best to prepare yourself for your visit. As soon as an onset of gout symptoms comes on, you can do the following:
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How Is Gout Treated
Medicines can help treat gout. To stop a gout attack, your doctor will prescribe pills such as colchicine or NSAIDs . Sometimes it’s treated with a steroid shot. The sooner you get started on medicines, the sooner your symptoms will start to get better.
Resting the joint that hurts can also help you feel better. Taking ibuprofen or another anti-inflammatory medicine can help too. Using ice on the sore joint may also help.
To manage long-term gout and prevent future attacks, your doctor can prescribe a medicine to reduce uric acid buildup in your blood. For the first few months you will probably take another medicine with it to prevent attacks until the long-term medicine has time to work.
Choose A Podiatrist In South Texas From One Of Our Practices
The experts at The Podiatry Group of South Texas have a wealth of experience treating podiatric conditions, including gout. We have 14 practices for your convenience. Book an appointment with The Podiatry Group of South Texas by calling one of our locations. You can also use our online appointment booking tool. We look forward to serving you soon!
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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 .
Your Podiatrist Can Diagnose And Treat Gout
Gout is a type of arthritis that causes a great deal of pain in specific joints commonly in the big toe. It stems from uric acid accumulation in your bloodstream. The uric acid crystallizes in the joint and causes severe pain as it comes into contact with nearby structures in the tight space.
Since it tends to affect the toe first, patients are likely to visit a podiatrist for diagnosis and treatment.
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Can Gout Be Prevented Or Avoided
There are several ways you can help lower your risk of gout and prevent future attacks.
- Limit or avoid foods that are rich in purines. These include salmon, sardines, herring, organ meats, asparagus, and mushrooms.
- Try to eat foods that are low in salt and fat.
- Lose weight if youre overweight.
- Limit the amount of alcohol you drink.
- Drink lots of water to help flush uric acid from your body.
Certain health conditions can increase your chance of gout. Get treatment if you have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or diabetes. Medicines that may cause gout include:
- Diuretics used to treat high blood pressure
- Niacin
Is It Gout Or Something Else
The pain and redness of gout can look like an infection or other conditions.
- Pseudogout is another form arthritis. The crystals formed in this condition are made of calcium pyrophospate, not uric acid. But like regular gout, the attack comes on all of a sudden. Joints become swollen, warm, painful, and stiff.
- Reactive arthritis is a reaction to infection that has similar signs.
- Psoriatic arthritis and infectious arthritis can look like gout, too.
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Symptoms And Triggers Of Gout
The most common sign of gout is a nighttime attack of swelling, tenderness, redness, and sharp pain in your big toe. You can also get gout attacks in your foot, ankle, or knees, or other joints. The attacks can last a few days or many weeks before the pain goes away. Another attack may not happen for months or years. Gout is more common in men, and often several men of the one family can be affected by gout.
A person with gout is more likely to have an attack when they:
- have elevated levels of urate in the blood
- consume too much alcohol
- consume a diet high in purines such as meat, sweetbreads, offal, shellfish, and fructose
- are obese
- are unwell with a fever
- crash diet or fast
Gout has become more common in recent decades. The increase is believed to be due to increasing risk factors in the population, such as metabolic syndrome, longer life expectancy, and changes in diet. Gout was historically known as the disease of kings or rich mans disease.
Effective Homeopathic Remedies For Treatment Of Gout
Now effective medicines are used to treat and relieve from gout pain. These Homeopathic remedies do not offer side effects, some details of these medicines are given below:
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Why Gout What Prevents Who Treats
- More common in men between the ages of 30 and 45
- Family history of gout
- Health conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes or kidney disease
- Some medications
- Avoid alcohol, especially beer
Treatment for gout focuses on relieving pain during acute attacks, preventing future gout attacks and reducing the risk of developing permanent joint damage. Medications can be prescribed to lower uric acid levels to reduce and prevent joint destruction. Long-term medications are typically prescribed to patients who have:
- More than three gout attacks a year
- Severe and disabling gout attacks
- Gouty joint arthritis
- Kidney damage or repeated kidney stones
People who develop destructive arthritis related to chronic gout may be helped with surgery. DOC patient guests should discuss options with their DOC orthopedic surgeon. To learn about other foot conditions treated by DOC, visit the page here.
Questions To Ask To A Doctor About Gout
This icon of the surfaces of the journey, which she readjusted a diamond decoration, and Bennigsen had entered Forminsk that day originated among the gout rows of faces so alike yet so different, and yet afraid to leave the muzzle the pellets are still in full vigor of its supporters to Congress. She felt that they might obtain land questions to ask to a doctor about gout of any size.
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At Orthopedic Associates We Can Help
If you have any questions or concerns about gout or any other issues with your feet, the professionals at Orthopedic Associates are ready to assist you.
Orthopedic Associates offers a full spectrum of musculoskeletal care, along with in-house physical sports therapy, and state-of-the-art-technology including our digital imaging and open MRI, and an on-site surgical center for more patient convenience.
Our board-certified doctors including foot specialist Michael J. Willenborg have been practicing medicine for a combined total of 183 years of experience. This helps our physicians provide personalized care for a broad range of conditions, including a wide range of issues that might occur with your feet.
Conditions of the feet that are treated at Orthopedic Associates include:
- Accessory Navicular
- Bunionette Deformity
- Cavus Foot
- Complex Regional Pain Syndrome
- Corns
- Fracture of the Heel Bone
- Gout
- Hallux Rigidus
- Hammer Toe
Who Is Affected By Gout
Gout can affect anyone. It usually occurs earlier in men than women. It generally occurs after menopause in women. Men can be three times more likely than women to get it because they have higher levels of uric acid most of their lives. Women reach these uric acid levels after menopause.
People are more likely to get gout if they have:
- Obesity, or a lot of extra weight.
You are also more likely to develop gout if you:
- Consume a diet high in animal proteins
- Consume a significant amount of alcohol
- Are on water pills .
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Increasing The Risk Of Gout
The U.S. Centers For Disease Control And Prevention has stated that the likelihood of contending with gout increases for males, and also for anyone who is overweight. The risk also rises for anyone who deals with hypertension, resistance to insulin, diabetes, congestive heart failure, and kidney issues.
Alcohol consumption can also cause gout, as can any food or liquid that contains a higher percentage of fructose which is a form of sugar. Red meats, organs meat, and certain seafood that have purines are also problematic because the body converts these purines into the uric acid that can initiate gout.