It is in the holidays that various temptations come calling. “Drink me… Eat me,” says your temptations. And sometimes, since you are just a human, you tend to stumble and cave in into the temptation. This is wrong –very wrong! By this, you may experience more and more gout attacks. Well, I am pertaining to the lingering pain and inflammation in the joints. Because of that, you may want to find ways on how to stop gout attacks. Well, you are lucky because you are on this website. Here, we will give you tips on how to stop gout attacks. So sit back, relax, and read on to this very informative article.
How To Stop Gout Attacks?
Firstly, you should know that gout flare-ups or attacks come with a warning. Usually, it is in the form of a tingling sensation, itching, or a burning feeling in the joints. Not just that, these sensations or feelings tend to occur commonly an hour or two before the actual gout attack starts. Nevertheless, you may also experience these feelings a day or two before the attacks as well. Therefore, you should pay attention to the joints where the gout attacks keep on happening. Moreover, you should also learn more about the signals of the body.
Actually, you may feel a little stiff or a little sore, and when the gout attack finally strikes, you are most likely to experience severe swelling, redness, and pain. Usually, the big toe or the knee, ankle, wrist, or elbow are the ones being attacked. It really hurts very much that whatever touches the joint feel very painful, causing you to not even bear the pain. In fact, even just the bed sheet touching the area may already cause pain.
A gout attack may last from hours up to days if you treat it quickly. However, if you leave it, and not treat it at all, it may last for a week or two. In order for you to alleviate the pain, the best thing to do is to treat the gout attack in 36 hours. This is for you not to experience any more lingering pain. If you get attacked by gout, you may also experience chills and fever.
How To Stop Gout Attacks: What you should have?
What you should always have at home is some ibuprofen like Motrin or Advil and/or some colchicine. You should always tell your doctor to prescribe you with some colchicine and always have it ready for the period of the gout attack. Well, no one wants to be stuck with his or her doctor being away on holidays or on a vacation.
If you’re on febuxostat or allopurinol, the chances are, you are going to take a particular dose every day as a uric acid-lowering therapy for a long period. Furthermore, this is for you to always have that particular medication handy. However, this is not the same as the colchicine, as it is widely used in treating gout attacks, and the medication will be stopped once you already feel better.
The colchicine can be effective when you take it in 12-24 hours after the gout attack. Also, the colchicine may be a cause of some major gut conditions if you take them in high dosage. Not just that, it is important to follow the recommended dosage of your doctor as well. For most of the people, this just means that you are taking not more than 2-4 tablets per day. Do you have no colchicine? It is okay, as long as you have ibuprofen.
The ibuprofen is actually a must, as it is widely available at the local pharmacy as an over-the-counter medicine. You may take it in order to remove the pain, it can make it easier for you to walk. Always remember that whatever you do, do not ever take aspirin, as it may affect your uric acid levels through the worsening of the attacks.
How To Stop Gout Attacks: Other Tips
If you have no colchicine or ibuprofen, make sure to have enough rest! You should rest your joint as much as possible until the pain gets much lesser. Furthermore, you may also use some cold packs or cold compresses and put it on the joints. This is to lessen the inflammation for about 20-30 minutes more than a few times every day. Also, you should drink a lot of water. This will help in stabilizing the uric acid levels and flushing the excess levels of it. Furthermore, if you are going to walk, you should walk with a cane, this will help in keeping the pressure off the joints.
Whatever case you are in, make sure that you let your doctor know. If you happen to experience no improvements in your symptoms for 48 hours after doing the necessary things to do, then you should call your doctor right away to get his or her suggestion about your condition.
