Gout is a painful condition caused by your body's inability to effectively process the uric acid naturally present in your blood. If you are suffering from gout, the uric acid in your blood forms crystals in your joints, causing sudden swelling, stiffness and intense pain. It most commonly attacks the big toe, but other joints can be affected.
Food Triggers
Gout has traditionally been associated with a lavish lifestyle, probably because some of the trigger foods are lobster and liquor. But anchovies and soda are just as risky. It's the purines in the food that trigger gout, not the cost. Eat a sensible, low fat diet to avoid attacks.
Ice and Elevate
For pain in a gouty toe, elevate the foot above the level of your heart. If you can tolerate it, a light ice pack can reduce pain, too.
Pain Killers
Choose ibuprofen for pain. It is an effective anti-inflammatory and will not raise uric acid levels in the blood.
Cherries
Cherries have been getting a lot of attention as a gout fighter, and studies conducted at the Arkansas Children's Nutrition Center seem to confirm this. Fresh, dried, bing or black, cherries lowered the uric acid levels in the women tested.
Soak
A good, old-fashioned foot soak can relieve pain and draw toxins out of the body. Try a ginger or epsom salt soak. Add 1/4 cup ground ginger or epsom salt to a tub and add hot water to cover.
Fluids
Drink water. Lots of water. Water helps flush your body of toxins which may help to reduce uric acid levels.
Tags: uric acid, acid levels, uric acid levels, epsom salt, ginger epsom, ginger epsom salt