Gout Self-Care

Gout is an inflammatory arthritis that causes pain, swelling and redness in your joints. When it strikes, it can linger for days — and symptoms can quickly get worse the longer it goes untreated.

From specific medications to rest, ice, exercise and more, rheumatologist Judith Manzon, MD, shares what you can do to care for gout and prevent future flares.

Is there a 10-minute gout cure?

You’ve probably heard about a quick and easy way to stop a gout flare from happening in 10 minutes or fewer. But unfortunately, there isn’t a cure that makes gout go away for good. And even the mildest of flares won’t go away immediately.

“If you’re looking for long-term control, there’s no such thing as a 10-minute cure for gout,” stresses Dr. Manzon.

That said, there are steps you can take immediately to relieve your pain and treat your symptoms.

“Usually, if you have a gout attack and you take medications for gout, you could reduce the gout attack to just one or two days instead of six or seven days,” she continues. “But if it’s a really bad flare, it could take up to 14 days to completely resolve.”

Home remedies for gout

Treating gout often involves a combination of things like pain relievers, anti-inflammatory medications, rest and recovery. You can also prevent or reduce the severity of symptoms by changing some of your habits and focusing on your overall health and wellness.

When practicing good self-care for gout, consider the following.

Medications for pain relief and inflammation

“The quickest and most effective treatment is going to be anti-inflammatory because inflammation is causing the pain, swelling, stiffness and redness,” explains Dr. Manzon.

Colchicine is a medication commonly used to reduce inflammation during a sudden gout flare. Over-the-counter NSAIDs, like ibuprofen or aspirin, can help relieve the pain, too, by tamping down inflammation.

Your healthcare provider might also recommend corticosteroids in pill or injection form when gout pains aren’t healing from other treatments.

For these medications to be most effective, you want to take them within 24 hours of a gout attack.

Rest and recovery

If you put too much stress on an affected joint, your symptoms can get worse or last longer. If you’ve got gout in your legs, keep them elevated above your heart to help reduce swelling. If it’s feeling hot to the touch, use an ice pack to bring down the temperature.

“Ice won’t reduce the duration of the symptoms, but it will give some relief for the pain temporarily,” says Dr. Manzon. By resting the affected joints, you give your body much-needed room to recover.

Uric acid-lowering medications

Gout attacks happen when you have too much uric acid in your body.

“Your body doesn’t like having uric acid crystals in the joints, so it tries to get rid of them by using your immune system to cause inflammation and get rid of those crystals,” explains Dr. Manzon. “We typically use uric acid-lowering medicines when you’re having more than two gout flares per year or your flares are really severe.”

Uric acid-lowering medications include:

• Allopurinol (Zyloprim®)
• Febuxostat (Uloric®)
• Pegloticase (Krystexxa®)

A low-purine diet

A plant-based diet full of fruits and veggies is a common go-to for folks living with gout. That’s because it allows you to avoid purines, a natural chemical that turns into uric acid when digested. High-purine foods to avoid include:

• Organ meats (like liver)
• Red meat
• Seafood
• Alcoholic beverages (including beer)
• High-fructose corn syrup, sugary drinks and foods

But low-purine foods are good for you, including:

• Dairy
• Whole grains
• Eggs
• Nuts

Drinking plenty of water also helps your kidneys flush uric acid out of your body, preventing gout flares.

Exercising regularly

During a gout attack, you want to avoid high-impact aerobic exercises to reduce the amount of stress you’re putting on a joint. “You have to take a break until the gout pain resolves,” says Dr. Manzon.

But when you’re not having a flare, doing light to moderate aerobic exercises regularly can help with:

• Strengthening your joints
• Weight management
• Lowering inflammation

All of these can help reduce the risk of a gout attack. Plus, exercise can help improve your metabolism and reduce insulin resistance, leading to lower levels of uric acid in your body.

“You don’t want to exercise to the point where you’re rapidly losing weight because that can increase uric acid,” warns Dr. Manzon. “But if you focus on maintaining a healthy weight, that can help reduce future flares from happening.”

Managing gout flares

“When you’re having a gout attack, there’s going to be some swelling,” says Dr. Manzon. “It’s going to feel hot to the touch, it may look red and it’s going to cause pain that makes it difficult to bear weight on the joint.”

At the first sign of these symptoms, try these tips for managing a flare:

• Act fast. Take medications recommended and prescribed by your healthcare provider for pain relief and inflammation.
• Rest and recover. Ice the affected joint. If gout is flaring in your leg, elevate it and try not to put pressure on it.
• Remain calm. Stress can trigger a gout attack, so try to take your mind off it while you heal. Take time to relax as best you can and try to distract yourself with a good book or other calming activity.

If your flare is severe or doesn’t go away within one or two days of self-care, call your healthcare provider.

“When you’re having a gout flare, nipping it in the bud as fast as you can is really important,” emphasizes Dr. Manzon. “The faster you act, the quicker it should resolve.”