As a person reaches old age, certain medical concerns start to show up and Gout is just one of those problems. While the percentage of people who are affected by this problem is quite low, it is still of quite major concern. Follow our guide to gout to find out more about it as well as the different types of medicines that could help a patient with gout relieve his pain.
What is Gout?
Gout is a medical condition where excessive uric acid is built up in different joints of the body which causes excruciating pain to the patient. Most of the time, gout causes pain in the person’s leg, feet, and toes. However, other joints can be affected too. The main reason why gout occurs is when the body starts to produce excessive uric acid which results in the creation of monosodium urate crystals. These crystals are deposited in the joint tissues. As a result of inflammatory action of the joint, there is pain and swelling in these areas.
Types of Gout
There are four different types of gout with each one having its symptoms, pain, and treatment.
Asymptomatic Hyperuricemia
This is a type of gout where the body has high uric acid levels but no symptoms are present. Therefore, a person does not feel any kind of pain. For this type of gout, no medication is required. One only has to take care of their diet to control the levels of uric acid in the body.
Acute Gout
Acute Gout is a symptomatic form of gout where the person feels pain due to the deposition of urate crystals in the joints. It also causes the immune system to react which causes inflammation. For treatment of acute gout, there are several over-the-counter gout medicines that one can use as suggested by the experts. Indomethacin is one NSAID (Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug) that can be used for the treatment of gout.
Chronic Gout
Chronic Gout is far more painful than acute gout and requires major medical treatment. A person suffering from chronic gout has fully restricted movement with major pain in the different types of joints of the body. Chronic gout usually impacts the human body after acute gout has not been treated properly. The treatment of chronic gout is also not as easy and requires the use of different types of Uricostatic Drugs and Uricolytic Drugs. It may take a person several years to recover from chronic gout.
Pseudogout
Pseudogout is not exactly a form of gout but creates a similar kind of pain for the patient. Pseudogout leads to pain in joints because of the formation of calcium pyrophosphate crystals. Pain episodes can occur from time to time. The treatment for pain caused due to pseudogout is also similar to normal gout which includes different types of Anti-inflammatory drugs and NSAIDs. The good part about pseudogout is that the pain reduces within 24 hours of the first treatment.
Can You Use Over-the-Counter Medicines for Gout?
Yes, you can use over-the-counter non-prescription medicines for gout. These medicines mainly include NSAIDs which will reduce the pain and swelling in the joints. Most likely, the first dose will start to show results within 24 hours. It will also reduce further episodes of pain if you consume these medicines regularly. However, there is no guarantee that these medicines will work. Your gout might be in the chronic stage where NSAIDs don’t usually work well. Therefore, you can try out the different types of non-prescription medicines for gout.
Best Over the Counter Medicines for Gout
Following are our top picks for the over-the-counter medicines for gout. You can get them easily from Amazon.com.
Expert Recommendation
Based on the detailed evaluation of different types of over-the-counter gout medicines, we recommend you get both, the first option by Mr. Angel Vitamins Store and the second one by Gout and You Store. The cream can be used when you are facing severe pain while the capsules will be helpful in the long run.
Other non-prescription medicines have also worked exceptionally for the users. You can check them out at Amazon.com
Conclusion
Gout is truly one of the worst problems anyone could face. However, one can also treat it very well with the help of different types of medicines. We recommend that you try out the non-prescription medicines provided above. However, if they do not work well for you, get yourself checked by a doctor who could diagnose and resolve the problem in an even better manner.