How many of you know someone in the family or someone in your friend circle who is suffering from Gout or had past experience of a very severe Gout attack? We had first-hand experience in our life. My wife, Anupama Vaidya (AV) got the first Gout attack suddenly in November 2014 on one of the chilliest nights. We immediately started Ayurvedic treatment along with lifestyle changes and diet. We both want to share her gout experience, how we were able to treat the gout and able to keep it at bay since then with simple Ayurvedic lifestyle, diet, and herbal medicines. Here we will take a deep dive into an Ayurvedic Gout treatment.
What is Gout and its Symptoms:
First let us look at what Gout is. Gout is a form of arthritis which is a painful inflammation and swelling of the joints caused by the buildup of uric acid in the body. The most common gout symptom is sudden, severe attacks of pain, tenderness, redness, warmth and swelling in some joints. It usually affects one joint at a time, especially the joint of the big toe, but can also affect the knee, ankle, foot, hand, wrist and elbow due to deposits of uric acid.
Normally, uric acid is a byproduct of waste products which breaks down in the blood and is eliminated in urine. When the body increases its production of uric acid or if the kidneys do not eliminate enough of it from the body, levels build up. Excess uric acid crystals form and hence gout develops. Repeat attack of gout are common if the body’s uric acid is not kept under control.
Certain foods cause gout so diet plays important role, especially foods that contain high amounts of purines, sugar, salt, and proteins such as beer and other alcoholic beverages, anchovies, sardines, fish eggs, herring, yeast, organ meats (e.g., liver, kidneys), legumes (e.g., dried beans, peas, and soybeans), mushrooms, spinach, asparagus, cauliflower, etc. Hence, an ayurvedic gout treatment can be achieved through medication and proper diet.
I do remember the day when my wife, Anupama got first attack, it was a very snowy day with extremely chilly weather with an artic blast. We went to sleep that night around 10 pm and by 11:30 pm, Anupama woke up screaming and crying. Her left toe was swollen, red in color and she was in extreme pain. We started the treatment immediately. Our first line of treatment was to reduce the pain and inflammation as soon as possible.
Immediate Treatment:
- We soaked her feet in very warm water with some sea salt for 15-20 minutes to give the relief from swelling and pain.
- Then we massaged her feet and big toe with Nirgundi oil which helped to reduce the inflammation.
- We gave her fresh ginger and turmeric juice using warm water.
- Also, started with Mahamanjisthadi tablets which help patients suffering from conditions such as rheumatoid diseases, gout and arthritis, It is one of the best Ayurvedic medicine for gout.
- We started a space heater and made sure the room is warm. She put on warm, woolen socks on her both feet with a small heat pad inside the sock which was having gout.
The pain and swelling went down 30% by next morning. But we knew that if we need further help to reduce pain and inflammation and also need to make sure that we can prevent repeat gout attacks by reducing the toxins and uric acid from the body. As per Ayurveda, Gout is a Vata disease which is caused by vitiated Vata or air element which further vitiates the blood and builds the toxins in blood and urine both. Hence, we started the longtime ayurvedic gout treatment with herbal medicines, diet and especially lifestyle changes which help reduce vitiated Vata, purify blood and detoxify the body.
Long Term Treatment:
Lifestyle:
- Every day and night she started wearing socks to protect from cold and dry air or Vata.
- We started having a space heater whenever she felt that toes and feet were cold.
- We made sure to avoid any direct air on the body. Hence, we stopped having air conditioning and fans during nighttime. If needed, we made sure the fan is running at the lowest speed.
- Continued soaking the feet in very warm water with some sea salt for 15-20 minutes every day.
Ayurvedic Diet:
- Curtailed any sugar or sugary substances from the diet.
- Totally cut out any processed food as these food items contain high sugar and salt both.
- Reduced the salt intake as much as possible.
- Started adding lemon juice, lime juice or Vinegar at least 1 tsp a day in the diet.
- Before attack, occasionally once or twice in a month she used to enjoy a couple of beers or wine. But, after the attack, she totally avoided drinking any alcoholic drinks.
- Even if she loved seafood, especially Shrimp, she avoided eating it as we noticed that whenever she ate Shrimp, the gout would get worse.
Ayurvedic Herbs:
- Everyday morning I started taking ½ cup fresh ginger and turmeric juice.
- Everyday massaged the feet and big toe with warm Nirgundi oil and Maha Narayn oil.
- We started with Punarnavadi Mandoor or Punarnavadi Guggulu tablets at breakfast.
- We started with Mahamanjisthadi tablets at Lunch and Dinner.
- Along with this we also started with Kishore Guggulu tablets at Lunch and Dinner.
- For local application, started using home-made Camphor oil or ointment.
With all the above lifestyle changes, Ayurvedic diet and Ayurvedic herbal medications, she was able to recover from the gout attack in 10 days. No swelling or pain remained. We were even thinking about doing bloodletting therapy by using leeches. But we did not need to go for that path. We continued the Ayurvedic Gout treatment for the next 3 months. To avoid the repeated gout attack, she still follows lifestyle and diet due which since last 6 years she did not have any gout attack.
I hope that our line of Ayurvedic Gout treatment is useful for you all or your family and friends. Please share this article with them if needed.
– Dr. Bharat Vaidya
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