While natural gout remedies are an increasingly popular option today, most people still tend to seek gout medicine first to try and rid themselves of inflamed and swollen joints. Medications recommended and prescribed by doctors and other medical specialists are still the main choice to cure ailments, and gout patients follow the same trend. There are several medications designed to lower excess levels of uric acid in your body. In this article, you’ll discover 3 gout medications available to you.

Two of the most common kinds of gout medicine you’ll encounter are NSAIDs and corticosteroids. They help in lessening the inflammation in the distressed joint. The NSAIDs are taken orally and in high dosage. This will also help in hampering the presence and proliferation of prostaglandin, a substance that contributes to the feeling of severe pain during a gout attack.

If NSAIDs fail, then you could take corticosteroids instead. These also give immediate pain relief through a direct injection into the swollen joint. With this method of injection, the medication can specifically target the afflicted area.

But there is a downside to using corticosteroids as your gout medicine. You can’t take it daily or during repeat flare-ups, because frequently using this medication will damage the joint and weaken the surrounding bone cartilage.

If neither one of the above are effective, then you last choice is to take colchicines and use it for the first twelve hours of the outbreak. Unlike the other two medications, you can take this one every hour for that first half day. However, you may suffer side-effects of abdominal cramps, diarrhea and an unsettled stomach. But colchicines have been around for centuries and have proven their effectiveness in relieving pain.

Any gout medicine you take, like most other kinds of medications, will have its pros and cons. Therefore, you should carefully consider your choices. Getting help from both medical professionals and other gout patients with resources for relief can give you the edge in getting rid of your gout flare-ups.