Acupuncture for GOUT
Acupuncture can help in treating Gout symptoms! The medical term used to describe a high amount of uric acid (gout) is Hyperuricemia! These uric acid stones are extremely dangerous and need to be kept under control. This post will help you to understand the difficulties you would face if you had high Uric acid in your body. It will also give you an idea about the symptoms and the way Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine will help you overcome Gout!
What is Hyperuricemia?
Hyperuricemia is nothing but presence of surplus uric acid in the blood. The overflowing Uric acid passes through the liver and enters your blood. Most of the uric acid is excreted from your body in your urine, or it passes through your intestines to normalize the acid levels.
The normal Uric acid levels are;
2.4 to 6.0 mg/dL for women
3.4 to 7.0 mg/dL for men
Understand what purines are!!
Purines are compounds that contain nitrogen. They are either formed inside the cells of your body or get into your body from outside when you eat food containing purine. This nitrogen containing compound breaks down into uric acid. When these compounds increase, they accumulate in your tissues, and form crystals. This causes high uric acid levels in the blood. Uric acid formation will lead to problems like kidney stones and gout (gathering of uric acid crystals in the joints).
Causes of Hyperuricemia!
Heredity reasons play an important role in determining a person’s risk in developing Hyperuricemia.
Age and Gender factor is another major issue; it is said that it occurs more common in men than in women!
Consumption of alcohol
Obesity
Intake of food that’s rich in purines causes gout for some people.
Diseases in the kidney
Certain medications can cause increased levels of uric acid in the body
Problems related to Endocrine glands and metabolic conditions can raise the uric acid levels of the body
10 Reasons that cause gout attack
Medicines that affect kidney function
Cyclosporine is given to organ transplant recipients that raises uric acid levels
Aspirin given in low dosage can raise uric acid levels in the blood
Hypertension
Hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol)
Diabetes
Consumption of alcohol
Injuries at your joints
Fad diets, fasting, and dehydration
Body temperature; because gout attacks people more in cold regions
Some symptoms of Hyperuricemia
Predominantly, you may not have any symptoms! This is something that you need to consider. But there are a few symptoms that help you find that you are at risk!
You may get fever, fatigue if you have certain kind of cancer, and thus your uric acid levels will go high
An inflammation of a joint which is called as ‘gout’ occurs if the high amount of uric acid crystals gets deposited in your joints.
You may have problems related to your kidney
Problems while urination
Now, certainly you must know what can be done to keep your uric acid levels under control. It can be achieved through taking care of the kind of food you consume.
Reduce the intake of food that are rich in nitrogen content:
All organ meat and meat extracts
Yeasts, and yeast extracts (alcoholic beverages)
Asparagus, spinach, beans, peas, lentils
Oatmeal, cauliflower and mushrooms
Consume more of food that has low purine levels;
Eggs
Lettuce, tomatoes, green vegetables
Fruit juice and carbonated drinks
Drink at least 2 to 3 liters of water everyday
Follow medications strictly as directed
Try avoiding caffeine and alcohol; they increase uric acid levels
To prevent future attacks, maintain a proper diet and keep pace with defined lifestyle changes, along with urate-lowering medicines! This can be extremely helpful along with Acupuncture.
Elaia Integrative Healthcare can help treat symptoms of Gout including joint and chest pain, skin allergies and breathing difficulties!
Contact Us for help today or click to learn more about pain management conditions we treat.