– Did you just wake up, and your big toe joint is very swollen, with 10 out of 10 pain in the morning? Well, there's a good chance, you might have something called gout. I'm gonna teach you exactly
what to do for gout, how to stop it as quickly as possible, and stop it from possibly killing you. No, it doesn't really kill you. (bright upbeat music) How dangerous is gout? Gout's not really that dangerous, but it is extremely annoying and painful. It can absolutely destroy your day. This is one of the most
common things people call us about asking to get in
immediately, besides, all those really life-threatening things like draining abscesses and
life-threatening infections. So, gout can be a major
scare in your life. You wanna act very quickly
to get it taken care of, but no, it won't kill you,
and it's not life-threatening. (upbeat music) What exactly is gout? Gout is the buildup of something
called uric acid crystals or a condition called hyperuricemia. So, what this means
is, in a practical way, is as your body turns
over and digests DNA, a molecule called uric acid
is a leftover by-product.
So, two things can happen, some people can't recycle
it in their body well, these are genetic conditions,
that's about 10% of people, and then 90% of people,
they just make too much and they don't pee it out quickly enough. So, as you put on weight, as your blood's not flowing as well, as your kidneys are not working as well, as you drink more alcohol,
as you get more dehydrated, all this stuff combines
to create situations which lead to hyperuricemia conditions. So, why do you usually
get it in your big toe? 90% of the time it's in the big toe. The reason it happens
in the big toe joint is because you have less blood flow there and it's a colder part of your body. Usually your toes are a little bit colder than the rest of your body. So, here's how I like to think of hyperuricemia causing gout. When you put in a sugar
cube in a cold glass, it's sinks to the bottom,
whereas you heat up that fluid, the crystals fall back into
the water and they disappear. So, your big toe joints
are pretty big joint, far enough away from your body, where the circulation is low, and the crystal builds
up in that big toe joint.
(bright upbeat music) How do we diagnose gout? So, there's a lot of ways, basically, if you have the symptoms, if
you wake up in the morning and your big toe joints
hurting and throbbing, 95% chance it's gout,
and not something else. But officially you can get a blood test and check the level of
your uric acid level, and the official way…
So, the official way to diagnose gout is to take a needle, to
poke you in the big toe while you're in your
worst pain of your life, and to see if some crystals come out. I would not wish that upon my worst enemy, but that is the official treatment option. (upbeat music) So, the first thing
you're gonna do is wake up in the morning in your in crippling pain. So, here's what you can do, if you don't have any medications. Number one, grab a big bag
of ice or a warm washcloth. Put it on the joint, for 10 to 15 minutes, elevate it as high as you can,
get your foot up in the air, elevate that foot, get some ice or washcloth as you're elevating.
These are the two best things you can do that are not medication-based. So, ice, elevate and keep doing that until the pain goes away. You're gonna have a hard time
functioning during the day to get rid of this pain, so, start working on it right away. (upbeat music) For medications, the most common
thing people have available in their house is anti-inflammatories. These are your aspirins, your ibuprofens. You can combine these with Tylenol to decrease your pain sensation.
So, anti-inflammatories like aspirin, ibuprofen actually decrease the swelling and the pain in the big toe, Tylenol, decreases it in your brain, so that you don't sense it as well. Tylenol is digested in your liver, whereas anti-inflammatories
are in your kidney. So, you can use them both together, but check if you're healthy enough to be able to do this first. The next types of medications, that you can use are
stronger pain medications, but these need prescriptions
from your podiatrist or primary care doctor. Beyond that, my favorite pill to take now, because it has less side effects, is something called Colcrys. So, this is something you take right away, and it really cools things down. Although, the big gun, if you can tolerate steroid medications, steroids work quicker
than any other medication, they wash away your
pain almost immediately. So, if you have a podiatrist in your area, go see them, and have these
medications available.
If you've had gout strikes before, have this medication available
in your medicine cabinet, so that you don't get
caught with your pants down, because when you wake up in the morning, and you're in crippling
pain relying on a washcloth and ice alone, you will not be very happy. (upbeat music) How do you prevent gout? You gotta get healthy. This is the bottom line, and this is your body
screaming out for assistance. Most people that have
gout have gotten older, have put on weight, their
kidneys don't work as well, their metabolism doesn't work as well, they're carrying large amounts of tissue, there's not a lot of blood
circulating through their toes, they might be drinking alcohol, they're eating heavy purine or meat diets, this is seafood, red
meats, that kind of stuff. You gotta cut that stuff down. You gotta hydrate better, you gotta cut down on the alcohol. Losing weight and getting
to your ideal BMI, would be the choice solution. This would help prevent it, unless you've really
spiraled out of control, at this point, you might need medications.
(upbeat music) If you have more than
three gout attacks a year, the indications are a
medication called allopurinol. This basically helps you
pee out the uric acid. So, this is a decent idea, but
why not just get healthier, get healthier, lose some
weight, start eating better. If you are at the point where you have to start taking heavy duty
amounts of medication, to prevent your gout attacks, this is a wake-up call for
your life, to start improving. Granted, there are some people that do need medication, cause they have genetic differences, but this is proven to be 10% of people.
If you're in that other 90%, get in better shape and you will not have to be on medications. You don't wanna be on medications for the rest of your life. (upbeat music) So, this is the ultimate
final plan for gout. Go see your podiatrist ahead of time. Get yourself some Colcrys, or some steroid medications available, if you're expecting an attack. Having these to take right away, makes your pain go away
almost immediately. Then get some ice or a warm cloth towel, elevate your foot, and do
that 15-20 minutes at a time as frequently as possible. Give your body about 10 minutes
to bounce back in between. So, take the anti-inflammatory
medications such as the steroids, or you could
take ibuprofen or aspirin. You can combine it with Tylenol or you could take the steroids instead. Ice-elevate your foot, and
you'll be feeling better as quickly as possible. Within about 24 hours, your pain should be greatly relieved. (bright upbeat music).
