Home Remedies For Gout

Gout is a metabolic disease marked by sudden and severe pain in one or more joints (especially those of the big toe). Gout is caused by excessively high uric acid levels in the blood. This occurs either because the kidneys are not eliminating enough of the body’s uric acid or because too much uric acid is being produced. A gout is essentially a form of arthritis that is characterized by sudden bouts of severe pain, inflammation, and tenderness in the joints, known as gout attacks. Because of the strong connection between diets and gout, the condition was regarded as an affliction of the wealthy in the past. With modernization and social reforms in the past century, our economic condition has greatly improved and there is less disparity, particularly with regard to the foods we consume. This condition has therefore become a lot more common and can afflict absolutely anyone, although men are more susceptible, as are post-menopausal women.

When uric acid crystallizes, takes on a shape like that of a needle and, like a needle, it jabs its way into the joints. It seems to prefer the joint of the big toe, but other joints can be vulnerable as well, including the mid-foot, ankle, knee, wrist, and even the fingers. Uric acid is more likely to crystallize at lower temperatures, which may explain why roughly 90 percent of gout attacks affect cooler extremities like the big toe. Acute pain is usually the first symptom. Then the affected joints become inflamed, almost infected looking red, swollen, hot, and extremely sensitive to the touch. Repeated attacks of gout over a long period of time can lead to joint damage.

Emotional stress can trigger a gout attack, as can fatigue and minor trauma. Gout also can be caused by renal insufficiency. Gout used to be called “rich man’s disease” since an attack can be brought on by consuming a diet rich in fats or alcohol. In addition to the herbs listed below, other beneficial herbs to relieve the discomfort of gout include barberry, black currant, goldenrod, horehound, horsetail, speedwell, and strawberry.

Risk factors for developing gout include:

• Obesity
• Excessive weight gain
• Moderate to heavy alcohol intake
• High blood pressure (hypertension)
• Diabetes
• High levels of fat and cholesterol in the blood
• Narrowing of the arteries (arteriosclerosis)
• Abnormal kidney function
• Family history of gout

Gout Symptoms

• 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.
• Inflammation and redness at the joint. The affected joint or joints become swollen, tender, and red.
• Patients can also develop a fever with acute gout attacks. The most reliable test for gout 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.

Tips to Avoid Gout Problem

• Avoid alcohol and smoking, as they can precipitate the conditions of gouts.
• Do not keep your joints fixed in one position for a long period of time. Maintain some amount of movement in them all the time.
• The most important of all preventions for gout is to keep the weight under check. This keeps your digestive system working fine and ensures proper expulsion of waste products from the body.
• Avoid alcohol and smoking, as they can precipitate the conditions of gouts.
• Do not keep your joints fixed in one position for a long period of time. Maintain some amount of movement in them all the time.
• The most important of all preventions for gout is to keep the weight under check. This keeps your digestive system working fine and ensures proper expulsion of waste products from the body.

Home Remedies For Gout

1. Make ash by torching the “Indian Reed – Mace” leaves and mix this ash with sesame seed oil. Applying this solution to gout-affected areas helps give relief and also helps to cure gout.
2. As there is a saying that an apple a day keeps the doctor away. We can trust apple to keep also the Gout away. A person with gout complaints must eat at least one apple per day for obtaining relief.
3. Drinking 6-8 ounces of glasses of fluid a day not only reduces gout attacks a day but also washes out the urate crystals from the system and prevents you from developing kidney stones.
4. Drink half a cup juice of French beans every day for a month once or twice.
5. Bananas are a good home remedy for curing Gout. Consume 3-4 bananas a day.
6. One of the important home remedies to treat Gout is to soak a piece of white flannel cloth in warm castor oil and place it over the affected areas.
7. Boil one teaspoon of pepper in one cup of vinegar and one cup of water, dab this mixture onto the painful joint, and leave it for 2-3 hours.
8. GOUT TEA

• 4 teaspoons agrimony leaves
• 2 tablespoons queen of the meadow root
• 2 cups boiling water
• Combine the herbs in a glass container and cover with the boiling water; steep for 3o minutes; cool and strain. Take half a cup, up to four times daily.

9. GOUT TEA 

• 1 teaspoon burdock root
• 2 tablespoons dandelion leaves
• 1 cup water
• Combine the herbs in a pan and cover with water. Bring to a boil; remove from the heat; steep for 3o minutes; strain. Take up to one cup per day, a tablespoon at a time.

10. Alfalfa is a good source of minerals and other nutrients that help to reduce serum uric acid. Take 2,000 to 3,000 milligrams daily in tablet or capsule form.
11. Bilberry extract is a good source of anthocyanidins and proanthocyanidins—powerful antioxidant compounds.
12. Boswellia and turmeric (curcumin) have powerful anti-inflammatory properties.
13. Apply cayenne (capsicum) powder, mixed with enough wintergreen oil to make a paste, to affected areas to relieve inflammation and pain. This may cause a stinging sensation at first, but with repeated use, pain should diminish markedly. Cayenne can also be taken in capsule or liquid form.
14. Celery seed extract contains numerous anti-inflammatory compounds.
15. Try using chamomile, lady’s mantle (yarrow), peppermint, or skullcap, in either capsule or tea form.
16. Devil’s claw and yucca can aid in relieving pain.
17. Other beneficial herbs include birch, burdock, colchicum tincture, hyssop, and juniper.

Author: Dr Izharul Hasan

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