Gout Outta My Way!

Spring is here! It's time to get outside and work in our yards, go to ball games and track meets, and just enjoy the beautiful sunshine! If chronic pain is keeping you from doing the things you enjoy, Pulse Centers may be able to help. For those of you who have followed along with our articles over the last several months, you know we have focused on several different types of pain and how PEMF can help. Today, we'll be taking a close look at gout.

John's PEMF session was divided to focus on two areas of gout, hand and foot. These sessions can also be provided on a massage-type table in a private room depending on individual preference.

First, let's review what PEMF is for those of you who may not be familiar. At Pulse Centers we provide
drug free pain relief using a cutting-edge technology called Pulsed Electro Magnetic Fields or PEMF. Our PEMF treatments supply energy the body needs to fuel its own healing potential. This energy is delivered directly to the cells through gentle pulses directed to the area of need. For a more in depth explanation, visit our website or look back at some of our previous articles.

Now, let's talk about gout. First, it's important to understand exactly what true gout is. Gout is actually a complex form of arthritis. It's characterized by sudden, severe attacks of pain, swelling, redness and tenderness in the joints. It is most often found in the
joint at the base of the big toe, but it can also manifest in the hands and fingers. Now that we know what
gout is, let's look at what causes it. Gout occurs when urate crystals accumulate in your joint, causing
inflammation and the intense pain associated with a gout attack. Urate crystals can form in the joints when you have high levels of uric acid in yourblood. Your body produces uric acid when it breaks down purines which are found in certain foods such as steak, organ meats, and seafood. Other foods also
promote higher levels of uric acid, such as alcoholic beverages, especially beer, and drinks sweetened with high fructose corn syrup.

Normally, uric acid dissolves in your blood and passes through your kidneys into your urine. However, sometimes your body produces too much uric acid. When this happens, uric acid can build up and form sharp, needlelike urate crystals in a joint or surrounding tissue that cause pain, inflammation, and swelling. Instead of being a thorn in your side, gout is literally a thorn in your joints.

Now that we understand what gout is and how it forms, let's look at the medical approach for treating it. The primary method for treating gout focuses on using anti-inflammatory drugs. Often, high doses of steroids are prescribed for use on a daily basis. While steroids are very effective at reducing inflammation,
they also come with many serious side effects such as high blood pressure, difficulty sleeping, weight gain, and steroids can also contribute to the formation of cataracts and glaucoma. Steroid use is particularly dangerous for diabetic patients because steroids can cause blood sugar levels to elevate significantly. The probability of experiencing these side effects increases with prolonged steroid use.

Using PEMF to address gout is an alternative approach that's gaining more and more recognition as a modality of choice for people who suffer with chronic gout flares. Like the medical approach, PEMF promotes reduction in gout pain by addressing the associated inflammation. However, it does so in a much healthier way by fueling the body's natural anti-inflammatory response. So, how exactly does that happen? The gentle but powerful pulses of PEMF therapy facilitate increased blood flow. This happens in the lungs as well as the rest of the body, but the lungs are important because the increased blood flow there puts more oxygen into the blood stream which is then delivered to the whole body, but especially to areas of need. With more essential oxygen on board, the natural healing and anti-inflammatory processes
of the body go to work. They begin to flush out the build up of the uric acid we mentioned earlier, along with other harmful toxins. Also, the rhythmic pulses actually help to mechanically disturb those deposits of painful crystals that are inflaming the surrounding tissues. All of this happens without introducing a single
medication into the body, and without any harmful side effects. Actually, while PEMF can be directed to
a specific area, the entire body will benefit from the positive effects which are far too numerous to detail
here.

As with anything new, a degree of skepticism and hesitance is natural and even healthy. Pulse Centers encourages you to research PEMF yourself. Research specifically PEMF and gout. We don't claim to have a magical remedy and we're not a here one day and gone the next gimmick. PEMF is a tested, researched, valid, non-medical approach to relief from gout pain. If your quality of life is affected by gout and you're not pleased with the results of the drugs you're takingconsider the non-medical approach of PEMF.

At Pulse Centers we genuinely care FOR the people who walk through our doors by helping them improve their health and quality of life, but just as importantly we care ABOUT them as well. Call today for a free consultation and your first gout-focused session at no cost. We look forward to meeting you and helping you find relief to the chronic gout pain that are keeping you down!