Treating Gout

[Brendan K]

I have a new client who suffers with Gout in the leg joints. Any suggestions for treatments to ease pain, reduce swelling ect. I'm thinking lymphatic drainage followed by specific acupressure points through the legs. Ideas?

 

[Tyrone C]

I don't, but just thought that I would mention that years ago my very young daughter was mis-diagnosed with gout when she actually had Lyme disease.

 

[Loving <3]

Be really careful when using acupressure points, the solid acids in the Cl's joints could dig into his tissue like needles. Some form of energy work like CST or Reiki might make more sense in this case, provided you client is comfortable with it.
Lymph tx would work pretty well if you worked on the whole body to stimulate the flushing, or at least take the strokes from the legs up to the heart to complete activated the right spots for flushing out the acid.
See how comfortable you client is with lots and lots of propping, too. Get his feet above his knees, his knees above his hips and experiment with angles of the bolsters, because gravity could really help getting things moving.

Could you refer you Cl to a good nutritionist to help too? Or is his/her gout not related to diet?

 

[Pompal 09.]

Thankyou both for your replys. I liked the idea of using gravity to help. In the end, I worked on the non-affected areas, I used Emmett points as they can be done indirectly to affect the area and then I worked on the general relaxation of my client. We talked about diet and they already have restrictions on certain foods. I did find out though, that they only drank about 3 gls water per day thinking this sufficient, I suggested increasing the amount, ideally up to 8-10 gls to help flush the uric acid through.

 

[Ramez]

Wow, that's alotta water...I'm glad you were able to treat your client. My brother in law has gout and was refused massage once. He was crushed, I'm sure your client was thrilled with it!

 

[lindirobby]

You could always work indirectly with your client - not directly on the joints but at points above and below them GENTLY to increase flow of blood, lymph and so on through the joints not around them, and then advise client to follow Dr's orders regarding dietary changes, etc.

 

[420Borat]

Diet plays a big part too. Try to see if your client would be willing to go on a meat free diet

 

[Peter Griffin]

Treating Gout

I would be wary about giving diet advice to a client, given the whole "scope of practice laws". The best thing to do in that situation would just be to refer out to a good nutritional therapist or even a specialist in gout treatment if one is available. They can run blood tests to see what the root of the problem is, because it can be different in everyone.
It's just better to make sure you cover your butt, so to speak. But check your own state laws to be sure!

 

[janna]

Treating Gout

It really is all about diet, but there is that scope of practice thing. Basically, it's about decreasing the purines in the diet - so they need to cut back on the wines and cheeses and deli meats like salami and whatnot. The pain comes from uric acid crystals that surround the joint and eventually attack and erode it if they don't make the dietary changes. They lack the enzyme to finish the breakdown of dietary purine. Gout medication is not a good idea, as one of the side effects IS gout - the very disease it's claiming to "treat"!

When tiptoeing around scope of practice, I mention that my professors discussed it today, and that they mentioned that the only real remedy is diet (which is indeed what they said), and tell them they can research it, that it's easily findable on Google. I basically hint at--or act as a messenger regarding--the main idea and then encourage them to do their own research.

In the meantime, it is not a good idea at all to work the area locally. Instead, you might work the thumb joints or thumb finger pads (ask the client for feedback as to which spots are tender to firm palpation as you pinch various ways around the thumb), which might have a palliative reflex effect on the gout-affected area.

Hope that helps!
Hugs,
~Jyoti

 

[fish apple tree]

Treating Gout

My grandmother has gout and she swears that eating black cherries stops the pain

 

[maybe its Emilyy:)]

Treating Gout

Homeopathy can help a lot. Worked like a charm for a client who got a case of gout whose diet is actually pretty stellar, but he has family members with it (whose diets are heavy in meat and alcohol too, I think).

 

[Dali M]

Treating Gout

I worked with someone who had gout and he said that eating cherries helped prevent it. I'm not sure what the reasoning behind that was.

Otherwise, my mother has a tendency to have gout pain, but she controls it with pills, which I assume are prescribed to her by a doctor.

I hope you're feeling better soon, hurgoll.

 

[Thong Man]

Treating Gout

I sometimes suffer foot pain that has be diagnosed as gout. I used to work at a health food store, and the owner recommended the black cherry juice or dried black cherries. The rational, if I can remember correctly, was that there is something in the cherries that dissolves the uric acid crystals in the tissues, so no more pain. This is not a cure, the crystals will re-form, especially if the diet isn't changed, but hey, cherries are good for you and tasty enough to eat as a snack even if you don't have gout!

 

[Sissy Smurf]

Treating Gout

One popular solution for the symptoms of gout is to eat fifteen to twenty cherries a day for treatment for gout. Fresh cherries are best, but canned cherries work too. Cherries have an enzyme that neutralizes uric acid and are high in anthocyanins, which have high antioxidant properties as well as anti-inflammatory action. I have used this method my gout treatment, may be it will help in yours gout problem.

http[colon]//gout-treatment[dot]org/gout-treatment.html