4 Tips To Overcome Gout Flare-Up

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Try to ask anyone who experiences gout, they’ll mostly tell you that a gout flare-up is the worst pain one could experience. My father experiences gout and he was first diagnosed during my high school years. He went to bed one night feeling fine and then woke up the next day experiencing an excruciating pain in his foot. I have been a nurse for ten years now and I’ve seen a lot of extreme things. And seeing a grown man cry because of the intense pain that they are feeling is one of those. There are still few individuals who’ve told me that gout pain rates high on their list. So, here are four tips to overcome gout flare-up from my professional and personal experience to help you get through from the pain.

Tips to Overcome Gout Flare-up: Take Medications Regularly

The first tip to overcome gout flare-up is to take your medications regularly or as prescribed by your doctor.

You were probably told or given specific instructions on how to take your medications to reduce the pain. So, why not read those instructions out or maybe call your doctor for best guidance.

There are some medications that are used to treat a hot swollen joint, and some medications to prevent further attacks of gout.

Below are a few medicines that are often prescribed to treat and/or prevent attacks of gout.

Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) an example of these are:

These medicines can be purchased over the counter. It lowers the inflammation at the joint and reduces pain.

Colchicine (Colcrys)

  • This medication is to either treat the acute attack or to prevent an attack from
  • It is given rapidly to treat the hot, swollen joint. Generally taken in two tablets at once and then another tablet after an hour.
  • It can also be taken once or twice a day to prevent an attack from coming back.

It still depends on what your doctor will say on how many times you’ll take this medicine (Colchicine).

Corticosteroids

  • Such as Prednisone (Sterapred DS, Meticorten, Sterapred).
  • When given by mouth, high doses of corticosteroids should be taken at first. Within a couple of weeks, the doses should be decreased.
  • The short-term use of this medicine may cause complications like altered mood, elevated blood pressure, and a problem controlling glucose in patients with diabetes.

This medicine can also be injected into the swollen joint. After being injected, you should probably rest your joint temporarily to help with the process of the steroids.

Tips to Overcome Gout Flare-up: Exercise Regularly and then Get Your Rest

Your doctor may have forgotten to add exercise in your life when you were diagnosed with gout. After all, exercising regularly can help improve the mobility of the affected joints and help you reduce weight. This can be beneficial if you have gout.

The pain that you experience is basically caused by uric acid crystals that are building up in your joints. When you move your joints, it causes it to move against the uric acid crystals, which is what causes the pain.

So, I strongly suggest that you should do an exercise routine during your normal days when your gout isn’t flaring up.

And when you do have a flare-up, it is important that you take a rest the whole day because the build-up can cause inflammation.

Tips to Overcome Gout Flare-up: Apply Ice on the Affected Joint

Another great way to decrease the pain is when you apply an ice on the affected joint.

But of course, this method will not cause the pain to go away continually, not until the uric acid crystals are still in your joints. But it does reduce the pain temporarily.

To do this just simply apply an ice bag or any frozen food on the affected joint. If you do not have an ice bag, then I recommend that you wrap a towel on the ice or frozen food. This is to create a barrier so that the ice won’t be directly placed on your skin.

Tips to Overcome Gout Flare-up: Always Drink Water

Drink a lot of water to prevent dehydration, why? Because dehydration can trigger a gout flare-up to occur. When your body fluids are low, the amount of your body’s uric acid increases. Your kidneys cannot keep up if the uric acid level rises.

When you think that your gout is almost about to flare-up, then it is wise to increase the amount of fluid that you take in. You should drink enough water, especially if you are exercising or during the hot weather.

Not only will this help prevent the gout flare-up from happening, but it can also help to wash off the crystals from the body during a flare-up.

Conclusion

And there you have it! these are the tips to overcome gout flare. These can help you reduce the pain and prevent the gout flare-up from happening. Always listen to your doctor and follow the prescriptions to avoid complications, especially when taking medicines.

Read more about Top 10 Home Remedies For Gout

 
 

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