Symptoms and treatment of gout in the feet

Everyone should be familiar with gout. There are already many gout patients, especially among middle-aged people. Gout is very common. The occurrence of gout is closely related to daily diet. Eating too much high-purine food will cause gout. Gout in the feet is also very common. Everyone should know more about the symptoms and treatment of gout in the feet, and face this disease actively.

The most common symptom of gout is gout in the feet. Gout in the feet has a great impact on patients. Patients cannot move freely and suffer a great psychological blow. Everyone should actively seek treatment. So what are the symptoms and treatments of gout in the feet? Let’s take a look.

Symptoms of gout in the feet

Among patients with primary gout, about 10% to 25% have a positive family history of gout; about 1% to 2% have congenital enzyme defects, which cause disorders in purine synthesis and catabolism; other causes are still unknown. Secondary gout is caused by hyperuricemia caused by certain diseases, such as kidney disease, leukemia, tumors, etc., or by certain drugs, such as diuretics, chemotherapy drugs, etc., or by starvation therapy for obesity.

Early clinical manifestations are often recurrent acute arthritis. The typical manifestations of acute gouty arthritis are very severe. Most of them have an acute onset, and many patients are suddenly awakened by foot pain in the middle of the night. The joints are red, swollen, hot and painful, and cannot be touched; the pain reaches its peak within 48 to 72 hours. The attacks are severe and feel "knife-like", "biting-like" or "burning-like". Most patients find it unbearable, and some patients have no choice but to "hold their feet and cry bitterly". In more than 70% of patients, the first joints affected are the metatarsophalangeal joints, followed by the ankles, knees, fingers, wrists, elbows, etc. Each acute attack lasts about 1 week and then resolves naturally.

Treatment of acute gout foot

The acute phase is when the patient suddenly experiences redness, swelling, heat and pain, and needs urgent treatment: the main principles are anti-inflammation, detumescence and analgesia. Patients at this stage have many misconceptions, thinking that because their blood uric acid level is high, they should use uric acid-lowering drugs. In fact, this is inappropriate. At this time, using drugs to excrete uric acid will only aggravate acute inflammation.

The principle is

1. During the acute phase, the patient's joints should be immobilized. Do not rub or apply hot compresses.

2. You should drink more water and try to eliminate uric acid. You should pay special attention to your diet. At this time, you should avoid eating foods that can easily increase blood uric acid, such as animal offal, beer, liquor, and seafood.

3. After noticing these, use anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs. Commonly used ones include ibuprofen and diclofenac sodium, which we call non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. They have anti-inflammatory, anti-swollen and analgesic effects on joints. Other anti-inflammatory drugs such as dimethyl sulfone and astaxanthin can also be used. Note that if you have renal insufficiency, you should avoid using analgesics and anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen and diclofenac sodium.

4. In addition, the pH value of the patient's urine is low. In this case, we need to use some alkaline drugs, such as sodium bicarbonate, potassium citrate, etc., which are conducive to the excretion of uric acid.

5. You can also use some topical analgesics, mainly to control the acute inflammation. When the acute inflammation is over, you can gradually increase the amount of drugs that inhibit uric acid from small to large amounts. Or the traditional Chinese medicine black plaster is used to calm the wind.

These are the treatment principles for the acute phase of gout.

Folk remedies

1: Prescription: 50g of Phellodendron chinense, 9g each of Aconite, Processed Pinellia, Notopterygium wilfordii, White Peony Root, Epimedium, Radix Dioscoreae, Radix Angelicae Sinensis, Ziziphus jujuba, and Poria, 6g each of Saposhnikovia divaricata, Asarum, Angelica pubescens, Cinnamon bark, and Roasted Licorice, and 4.5g of Ligusticum chuanxiong.

Usage: Decoction in water, 1 dose per day, 3 times a day.

Efficacy: The patient can be cured after taking the medicine for one month.

2: Prescription: 60 grams each of angelica, white peony root, and licorice, 30 grams of white flower snake, 20 grams each of centipede and asarum, and 2000 ml of white wine.

Usage: Grind the medicine into powder, wrap it in cloth and soak it in wine for 10 days. Take 30 ml each time, twice a day. 25 days is a course of treatment. There is a 5-day break between each course of treatment.

Efficacy: After 1-2 courses of treatment, the effective rate reaches 100%.

Gout in the feet is very harmful. In severe cases, it can cause joint deformities, which can cause great pressure on work and life. It is also very painful for patients. If it is not treated in time, it will cause many complications. Everyone should actively understand the symptoms and treatment of gout in the feet. Early treatment can avoid many harms.