Moving your foot muscles to beat gout

Most people get gout in their feet. Many others get it in the joints of their fingers. Why there, and not somewhere bigger, like the shinbone or gluteus maximus? Or the nose?

The reason is simple: Uric acid crystals tend to aggregate in parts of your body which have low blood circulation and which are peripheral - which means lower temperature. Once you are past the threshold for crystal formation in the blood (the serum value), the crystals will start to form. And it is harder for them to do that where blood is flowing hot and fast.

WHY GOUT GETS IN YOUR FEET

This explains why you get gout in your feet. And it also explains why it works to use the Sixpad to counter gout. The more the muscles in the feet get exercise (and not just warming up like a foot bath), the more blood flow and the less uric acid crystals lodging in sinews and ligaments, and causing inflammation which becomes gout attacks.

The link between gout and circulatory problems such as hypertension is also well known. The direct consequences of gout include not only joint problems, but also visual problems (because of damage to the small blood vessels of the eyes). So if you have gout, you may already have circulatory problems. If they are not noticeable, the gout is a warning sign that it is time to do something.

Apart from changing your diet and lifestyle, and drinking lots of water, there is something simple you can do: Move the small muscles in your feet. This increases the blood circulation and makes it harder for new crystals to form, while dislodging the crystals already formed into your blood. Once in the blood your body can transport them to the kidneys and they can get out the natural way. It is not dangerous in any way, and it does not hurt (the crystals are usually very small, too small to see with the naked eye).

HOW TO MOVE YOUR FOOT MUSCLES

Most people have no problems "playing piano" with their toes. If you have problems moving your toes, or if they are crooked and out of shape, you may have arthritis. It is sufficient reason to see a rheumatologist, unless you are doing so already. But for a gout sufferer, just moving your toes is not enough. You need to move the muscles inside the foot, those connected to the ligaments where the crystals collect. How do you do that?
You do it while walking and playing sports, but that is time-limited and you may not be fit enough, or have time. And even after an attack the inflammation makes your feet sore. But there is a simpler solution to moving muscles to beat gout.

STIMULATING DEEP ACTIVITY

If you have ever had an electric shock, you may have noticed that your muscles cramped. EMS works on the same principle, but vastly lower current so it is not dangerous. It is the voltage that stimulates the muscles, and by varying the voltage you can induce movement in the muscles. That includes the muscles deep in your feet, those connected to the ligaments connecting the bones inside the foot - where the uric scid crystals accumulate.

MOVING THE INSIDES

It is that deep activity that makes your feet muscles move, and that increases the blood flow inside the feet. If you are even a bit sedentary you may have noticed that your feet are colder than your hands. If they had been the same temperature you would not feel any difference.
The temperature difference disappears when you move your feet a lot. Walking in uneven terrain or playing sports where you move your feet, like soccer, prevents crystal buildup.
​By using EMS you stimulate the myscles inside the feet and even if you have not changed your diet to avoid gout-unfriendly foods, this will decrease the likelyhood that crystals form in the ligaments and sinews of your feet, which otherwise is a favorite place for uric acid crystals to form.

FORMING CRYSTALS IN OTHER BODY PARTS

Crystals do not have to form in the feet, although this is by far the most common place to find uric acid crystals in gout. They can form in any part of your body that has the right conditions. That is why so many people get tophi (the gout crystal bubbles) on their ears. Even if there are no bones in the ear, there is plenty of ligaments. And low blood circulation.

INCREASING CIRCULATION DOES NOT DECREASE URIC ACID

Increasing the blood circulation in the feet decreases the risk of crystal formation. Increasing the blood circulation in the ear is harder - you do not have any muscles there to speak of. If you want to increase circulation in your ears it means increasing circulation in your entire body. Which is not a bad idea in itself. What it does not do is remove the uric acid from your body.

WHEN INCREASED CIRCULATION INCREASES THE RISK FOR GOUT ATTACKS

While increasing blood flow in your muscles is a good idea if you have gout, you do not want to increase the blood flow in your connective tissue - for the same reason. The connective tissue is where the gout crystals get stored. If you cause even a minor trauma to the connective tissue storing uric acid, the uric acid crystals can be released into the joints, where they are sure to cause a gout attack. You want the muscles to work while keeping the stress on the connective tissue to a minimum. The only way to do that is using electrostimulation of your muscles.

GETTING RID OF URIC ACID

When you make it harder for the crystals to form in your feet, and in any other place in your body, you must still get the concentration of uric acid in your blood down to a level where new crystals does not form. That means you have to do three things: reduce the intake of purines, the component in food that your body turns into uric acid; wait until the uric acid your body has stored here and there is execreted (through your urine); and lower the production of uric acid. The last one is crucial, and medicines or a strict diet combined with weightloss is the only way to achieve it.