Treating Gout

Homeopathy is an alternative medical treatment that uses diluted natural substances (animal, mineral or botanical compounds) to increase the body’s capacity of defending against diseases by stimulating the patient’s personal immune system. Besides the conventional means of treating gout with drugs, the homeopathic treatment for gout has also gained popularity within recent years.

Homeopathic treatments are based on "like cures like": a natural substance that causes bad symptoms could – when taken in very small quantities – treat these bad symptoms. When for example coffee causes symptoms of insomnia, drops of extremely diluted coffee could cure insomnia. In the case of gout: Guaiacum causes rheumatic and arthritic pain hence a homeopathic preparation of Guaiacum helps in decreasing those pains.

Since homeopathic preparations contain very strongly diluted active ingredients, they cause little or no side effects when compared to conventional medicines. However, the exact dose to be used isn’t something you should experiment with at home: always follow the recommendations from homeopathic healers that will prescribe the exact dose based on your total state of health, body and mind.

Dilutions or "potency" is expressed with X (D or DH: 1/10th) or C (CH or CK: 1/100):

• If you mix 1 part of the mother plant extract (mother tincture) with 99 parts of alcohol of %70, you will have a 1C potency.
• Mix 1 part of 1C with 99 parts of alcohol of %70, and you get a 2C dilution.

Lower potencies are generally used to treat local symptoms, where higher potencies work better for general conditions like insomnia or stress or allergies.

Complete list of homeopathic remedies for gout

Some of the plants and chemicals mentioned below are extremely poisonous when taken as a whole. Since homeopathic remedies rely on strongly diluted extracts, the poisonous effect will disappear. The best example is the homeopathic extract of Colchicum (autumn Crocus) that causes no side effects, where the conventional colchicine medicines only can be taken until the patient starts suffering from the poisonous side effects like nausea. Homeopathic Colchicum preparations work especially well when pain is accompanied by nausea, as well as to treat pain that:

• becomes more severe when you move,
• worsens in the evening or at night, or 
• occurs when there are weather changes.

The following extracts are also used to help with the treatment for gout or other kinds of pain:

• Aconitum napellus (Monkshood) is used for people suffering from an acute gout attack (typical pain and swelling) accompanied by panic, anxiety, or hyperactivity.
• Antimonium Crudum (the mineral antimony or black sulphide) helps when gout is accompanied with gastric symptoms).
• Apis mellifica (venom of the sting of a honey bee). In many Asian countries, bee stings are administered to treat joint conditions. For homeopathic "like cures like": since bee stings cause redness, a burning pain and some swelling, bee venom extract not only treats painful insect bites but also joints that are red, swollen and inflamed due to arthritis and gout.
• Arnica montana (Wolf’s or Leopard’s Bane) is used by some to easy the pain that gout causes. Also conventional medicine uses Arnica montana in gel form to treat osteoarthritis symptoms in the hands.
• Atropa belladonna (Deadly Nightshade, Devil’s Berries, Death Cherries) helps when joints are febrile, against intense pain or pain that becomes stronger when the patient moves and weakens when the patient applies pressure over the affected body area.
• Benzinum acidum (benzoic acid) is often used in treating any form of arthritis where the person’s urine has a very characteristic and offensive smell.
• Berberis vulgaris (Barberry) treats spasms and joints with sudden painful twinges that becomes worse when walking. It is also prescribed for people having back pain for people having a tendency to get kidney stones.
• Bryonia (Bryony) is recommended for pain that becomes more pronounced when a person moves but weakens when the person applies pressure or heat.
• Calcarea Fluorica (the mineral Calcium Fluoride) is recommended especially for pain in small joints like toes and fingers.
• Guaiacum sanctum (Holywood Lignum-vitae) : tincture made of the gum resin of this tree sometimes relieves the pain and inflammation. John Henry Clarke, M.D. ⁽¹⁾ mentions in his medical study about Guaiacum that a patient of Dr. Verwey who had recurrent gout attacks on her knee, was given first given an ineffective Guai 30C dose. However after a Guai. 10C dose, the swelling subsided after a few hours and the accompanying pain disappeared.
• Juniperus sabina: an extract from the Juniperus sabina or dwarf juniperus – Savin – is used with arthritis pain and gout, as well as with uterine problems to speed up the menstruation, and with hemorrhages.⁽²⁾
• Ledum palustre (Wild Rosemary) is used when joints are swollen and purple, or for pain that gets relieved with cold but intensifies with heat.
• Pulsatilla nigricans (Wind Flower) is sometimes used for male patients with pain in the extremities, pain that becomes less after using cold applications, rheumatism in the joints with a pain that feels as if the joint is dislocated as well as burning feet pain, when the feet needs to be moved out of the bed.
• Quercus Alba (White Oak); homeopathic preparations of the bark
  help alleviate the pain caused by gout and hemorrhoids.
• Rhododendron tends to be useful when you experience swelling of the big toe, especially just before a storm or when the joints on the right side of your body hurt more than the ones on the left side.
• Rhus Toxicodendron (Poison Ivy) is extremely helpful for itchy and swollen skin ailments. However it is also useful to treat other kinds of pain like joint pain that becomes in the morning or any other pain and swelling caused by arthritis.

Adding "the exact dose" for each of the above goes against the fundamentals of homeopathy; treatments should be both holistic and tailored to every different patient, as it is well common in homeopathy that different patients with similar problems will receive different treatments.

It is therefore beneficial that your homeopathic doctor treats YOU for gout, in stead of only trying to treat gout itself. A successful homeopathic treatment for gout takes all into consideration: your physical and psychological factors, your hereditary predisposition to this disease, environmental factors such as stress or pollution, your eating habits and your life style.

---

Resources:

1. A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica, By John Henry CLARKE, M.D. – Guaiacum
2. International Academy of Classical Homeopathy: Juniperus Sabina