HealthInfo West Coast-Te Tai Poutini
Self-care for gout
Te ora me te porohau
If you have a diagnosis of gout, there are many things you can do to manage or improve your health. There are also things you can do to manage an attack and help prevent gout from coming back.
Managing acute attacks
- Take your medication for an attack early and as prescribed by your doctor.
- Rest and put your painful joint up on a pillow.
- Mould ice or frozen peas (wrapped in a tea towel) around your joint.
- Drink plenty of water.
- Do not stop taking your urate lowering medicine during an attack.
Preventing gout
- Know your uric acid level and aim to keep it low.
- Long-term control of your uric acid levels will help to reduce gout attacks in the future.
- The target uric acid level is 0.36 mmol/L or less. You will need to have blood tests once a month until you reach this level. After this, you can have blood tests every 6 to 12 months.
- To keep your level low, you may need to take a urate lowering medicine long-term even when you are well.
- Complete a gout management plan with your general practice team. A gout management plan can help you manage gout attacks and track your uric acid level.
- Have a heart and diabetes check. People with gout have a higher risk of getting diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and kidney problems.
- Get support and information through Arthritis New Zealand.
Eating & lifestyle advice
- Aim to be a healthy weight. If you need to lose weight, lose it gradually, aiming for 1 to 2 kg a month. Losing weight too quickly can trigger gout.
- Eat 3 meals a day. Starving or feasting can bring on a gout attack.
- Limit the amount of lean meat, chicken and seafood you eat to 2 small servings a day. A serving is the size and thickness of the palm of your hand.
- Aim to have at least 5 servings of vegetables and 2 servings of fruit a day. A serving is the amount that fits into the palm of your hand. Also, have low-fat dairy products and wholegrains daily.
- Drink plenty of fluid (8 cups a day). But avoid sugary drinks such as cordials, fruit juice and flavoured milk.
- Limit alcohol, especially beer as this can increase uric acid. If you do choose to drink alcohol, limit it to 1 to 2 standard drinks a day and have at least 2 alcohol-free days every week. A standard drink is a 330 ml bottle of beer, a 100 ml glass of wine or a 30 ml nip of spirits. During a gout attack, it is best to avoid all alcohol.
- You may find you need to limit a particular food that triggers your gout, such as tomatoes.
Written by HealthInfo clinical advisers. Last reviewed July 2024.
SourcesReview key: HIGOU-18727
