Home Remedies For Gout

Gout occurs due to overloading  of uric acid in the body.  Your body produces uric acid when it breaks down purines, substances that are found naturally in your body, as well as in certain foods such as organ meats, anchovies, herring, asparagus, and mushrooms.

The kidneys usually regulate the levels of uric acid in the body.  When this process is compromised, gout can occur.  Chronic gout can result in layers of deposits of hard lumps of uric acid in and around joints (most commonly found at the tip of the elbows, around the big toe and around the fingers) and can also lead to decreased kidney function and kidney stones.  In rare instances, gout leads to a more chronic condition that mimics rheumatoid arthritis.

Symptoms

1. Intense joint pain: If untreated, the joint pain typically lasts five to 10 days and then stops.  The discomfort subsides slowly over a period of one to two weeks, leaving the joint apparently normal.
2. Inflammation and redness at the joint:  The affected joint or joints become swollen, tender and red.  The patients can also develop fever with acute gout attacks.  Finding out uric acid crystals in the joint, which is a fluid obtained by joint aspiration- a common office procedure performed under local anesthesia, is the most reliable test for gout.  The fluid is withdrawn from the inflamed joints using a syringe and needle.

Home Remedies

1. 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 at least eat one apple per day for obtaining relief.
2. Drinking 6 to 8 ounces glasses of fluid a day not only reduces gout attacks but also washes out the crystals from the system and prevents the developing of kidney stones.
3. Drink half cup juice of French beans every day for a month once or twice.
4. Bananas are a good home remedy for cutting gout.  Consume three to four bananas a day.
5. 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.
6. Boil one teaspoon of pepper in 1 cup of vinegar and 1 cup of water, dab this mixture onto the painful joints and leave it for 2-3 hours.
7. Mince garlic and add it to black cherry juice for better effects.  This remedy works very well if you have garlic-cherry paste in the early morning.