Can gout be treated?
With proper treatment a gout attack can be controlled within 12 to 24 hours and treatment stopped after a few days. To reduce the pain, swelling, redness, and warmth of the affected joint(s) in an acute gout attack, these are your options: • Rest and elevation. Stay off your feet and rest the affected joint(s). It may be beneficial to keep the affected joint elevated above the level of your heart. • Cold wrap therapy. Apply a cold compression wrap. Cold compression wraps interrupt pain signals and reduce inflammation. Gout immobilizes your joints by inducing swelling in the surrounding tissue. The deep cold provided by cold compression wraps/braces slows this process. Cold wraps numb the nerves to reduce the pain. In the early moments or hours of your flare-up, controlling inflammation is extremely important, especially because inflammation also strains the surrounding tissue causing more pain and damage. It has been proven that gout sufferers who use cold packs on their painful joints
