Gout is a painful form of inflammatory arthritis that causes pain and swelling in your joints. Gout happens when there’s a buildup of monosodium urate crystals in your joints. Gout most commonly affects your big toe. But it can affect other joints including your knees, ankles, feet, hands, wrists and elbows. Gout symptoms come and go in episodes called flares or gout attacks.
Certain comorbid conditions are associated with a higher incidence of gout including hypertension, diabetes, kidney insufficiency, hypercholesterolemia, obesity or anaemia.
You are more likely to experience gout if you have a biological parent or grandparent who has gout, eat a lot of animal protein or drink alcohol regularly
Gout attacks are very painful and can happen suddenly. Symptoms in your affected joints may include intense pain, discoloration or redness, stiffness, swelling, and tenderness. A patient needs to take a few imaging tests to take pictures of your affected joints. You might need an X-ray and blood investigations.
Mostly internal medications are followed. In modern medicine use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are commonly used. Like in every arthritic condition, the power of natural medicine to cure gout is commendable.
Ayurveda offers a comprehensive and effective treatment to tackle the menace of gout. The foremost approach is the prevention of the incidence of gout and the prevention of the recurrence of gout. Ayurvedic therapies such as
- Abhyanga
- External application or lepas with herbal powders
- Sneha vasti, Kashaya vasti, Ksheeravasti (medicated enema) is highly effective
- Podi kizhi
- Elakizhi
- Upanaham (poultices)
