Gout

"Gout...A form of arthritis"

Got gout? Ever woken up in the middle of the night with your big toe feeling as though it’s on fire? It feels hot, it’s tender and swollen and you experience pain at the slightest touch? You may be experiencing an acute attack of gout that’s characterized by sudden, severe attacks of pain, redness and tenderness in joints.

Men are more prone to it. Women become increasingly susceptible after menopause.

It's actually a common, painful form of arthritis which can occur when uric acid builds up in your blood. This happens if your body produces extra acid or does not eliminate enough, or if you eat too many foods with purines, such as liver or dried beans.

Pseudogout has similar symptoms and is sometimes confused with it. However, it is caused by calcium phosphate, not uric acid.

Often, it first attacks your big toe. It can also attack:

• ankles
• heels
• knees
• wrists
• fingers
• elbows

You are more likely to get it if you:

• Are a man
• Have family member with it
• Drink alcohol

At first, attacks usually get better in days. Eventually, attacks last longer and occur more often.

Uric acid buildup can lead to kidney stones. Untreated, the condition can cause permanent joint and kidney damage. It can be treated.

Diagnosing Gout...

The signs and symptoms are almost always acute, occurring suddenly (often at night) and without warning. It is suspected when a history of repeated attacks of painful arthritis at the base of the toes is reported. Ankles and knees are also commonly involved joints affected it. It usually attacks one joint at a time, while other arthritis conditions, such as systemic lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, usually attack multiple joints at the same time.

Symptoms include:

• Intense joint pain. If untreated, the joint pain typically lasts five to 10 days and then stops. The discomfort subsides gradually over one to two weeks, leaving the joint apparently normal and pain-free.
• Inflammation and redness at the joint. The affected joint or joints become swollen, tender and red.

Patients can also develop fever with the acute attacks. The most reliable test is finding uric acid crystals in the joint fluid obtained by joint aspiration – a common office procedure performed under local anesthesia.

Fluid is withdrawn from the inflamed joint, using a syringe and needle. The joint fluid is then analyzed for uric acid crystals and for infection.

Other means to help diagnose it may include:

• X-rays can sometimes be helpful, and may show tophi crystal deposits and bone damage as a result of repeated inflammations. X-rays can also be helpful for monitoring the effects of it on the joints.
• Blood test. This is used to measure the uric acid level in your blood, although some people have high uric acid levels, but never experience the condition and vice versa.
  
  

  What Causes Gout?...

  
  
  

  Testimonials...

  
  Author: Patricia Golden 2008-12-02

  "Whenever my son's gout acts up he immediately asks for nutmeg oil. It seems to relieve the pain right away and he feels that the crystals that cause the pain are dissolved very quickly.

  Sometimes he uses a little geranium with the nutmeg. His job requires that he be on his feet so we never run out of the nutmeg oil."

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  Author: Carol Miller 2008-12-26

  "My husband has chronic gout, usually in his foot. Recently it settled in his elbow, swelling to an impressive size.

  Two trips to the doctor produced pills for inflammation and also pills to take twice a day for the rest of his life. The pills for gout made him nausous, so he stopped taking them.

  As a last resort, he 'let' me apply frankincense oil to his inflammation, which had gone down a little but was still painful.

  I raindropped about 10 drops onto his elbow and lightly stroked them in. Then I took a hand towel, wet it well, and heated it in the microwave until it was steaming. When it had cooled to a tolerable temperature, I folded it in half lengthwise and wrapped it close around his elbow.

  I covered it with a dry towel folded lengthwise and wrapped over the first towel. He sat like that until the wet towel was cool.

  He felt some improvement so I did it again that day and then the next day. He has not complained since. At least not about his elbow!"
  
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