One of the most painful conditions a person can suffer from is something called Gout. What is Gout? Gout is a condition where food with high levels of uric acid causes painful inflammation in the joints, often the big toe and foot. The uric acid forms into knife like crystals that imbed themselves into the soft parts of the joint. Pain is usually extreme, pulsates and will closely resemble a broken bone. The pain can be so intense that just the brushing of a bedsheet against the affected area can throw a patient into agony. Not everyone is susceptible to gout. Only those that do not reduce the body’s natural levels of uric acid.

Causes of Gout include the foods:

• Organ meats – kidney, liver, brains
• Red, undercooked beef – make sure your beef is well done with no redness
• Alcohol – beer, wine or other can bring on gout
• Some seafood – mussels, anchovies, shrimp, sardines, lobster or crab
• Cauliflower – can contribute to a gout attack
• Sweetbread – made from organ meat
• Gravy – high in organ meat for taste
• Mushrooms – can have uric acid

Your podiatrist can check your blood levels of uric acid and provide a list of food to avoid and others to tend toward. If you suspect you have gout, then calling them is crucial to identifying the illness and treatment.

Ways to avoid gout includes eating better food, keeping your weight down, drinking plenty of fluids, avoid alcohol, increase your consumption of low-fat dairy products – actually fights against gout – and limiting some types of your consumption of meat, fish and poultry.

Treatments for gout include:

• Dietary change – will reduce over production of uric acid
• Colchicine -short term reduction of uric acid
• Allopurinol – limits the bodies uric acid production. Long term
• Pain medicine – Advil, Motrin, etc. Can reduce pain and swelling but if not taken as prescribed can lead to organ failure. See your podiatrist before taking any pain medicine for gout
• Cherry juice – reported to have anti-gout properties
• Drink plenty of fluids – helps flush out uric acid

If you believe you are developing gout or have any other concerns about the health of your feet, make an appointment with one of our podiatrists here at Ankle and Foot Specialists PC. Our website is monpod.com. Our Drs Scott E. Hughes, Greg P. Vogt and Christine L. Tumele will assess your condition and recommend the proper treatment. We have two offices. One is located in Monroe, MI at 734-241-0200 and the other in Lambertville, MI at 734-241-8900.