What is Gout

A gout is a form of Arthritis, characterized by excruciating pain, swelling and stuff joints. It usually affects the joint in the big toe. Gout is one of the most frequently documented diseases in history.

Symptoms of Gout

Large deposits of certain elements in the body often have adverse effects on the body in the long run. Gout is caused by large deposits of uric acid that have crystallized within the body. Gout stints come briefly and are very painful, and they return in batches, harming the tissues in the region of inflammation.

• Severe joint pain: Although gout most commonly affects the big toe joint, it can affect ankles, knees, elbows, wrists and fingers. The pain is usually the most in the first 12 hours.

• Discomfort: After the severe pain subsides, the discomfort brought along by the pain tends to linger. This may last from several hours to a few days

• Inflammation and tenderness: the joint affected by gout always become swollen, tender and warm.

• Stiffness: as gout progresses you might lose the ability to move that joint as you would normally move it around.

Gout Complications

Gout is usually accompanied by acute pain and discomfort as already discussed above, but some other possible complications may arise from excess uric acid in the body.

• Joint Damage: Longstanding untreated gout can cause irreversible joint damage

• Kidney stones: If urate crystals are continuously collect in the urinary tract, they may become kidney stones

• Recurring gout: This is rare as most people only have gout once. But on some occasions, some people are faced with constant gout attacks on their joints. This constantly causes damage to that joint and the surrounding tissue.

Gout prevention

There are a few ways to avoid gout and they all border on self-preservation. They include:

Maintaining a healthy Bodyweight: High level of insulin circulating the body due to obesity will lead to an inhibition of the uric acid elimination process in the body leading up to gout.

Stay Hydrated: maintaining a high fluid intake of between 2-4 litres of water per day can help fight against gout

Some of the Ayurvedic medications include:

• Triphala
• Giloy
• Neem
• Cherries and dark berries