Nobody knows when a person gets addicted to painkillers. Everybody takes them to ease the pain related to diseases, fatigue after strenuous work or to overcome post surgery trauma. Still, for some people while they may have started using these medicines for valid reasons, the risk of addiction is always there.

This addiction, once it enters your life will overpower your other desires and ruin it forever. Since this addiction comes most silently, many people realize its bad consequences only when it is too late for them. These painkillers work on the principle of depressing the central nervous system and thus suppressing pain, so they become the first choice in managing pain.

Many painkillers use opium as a main ingredient, which when taken as a pill ceases any painful sensation in human body. In fact opium works on certain regions of the human brain that control the feeling of pleasure. This sometimes works as a great high for people in pain and thus makes them addicted to painkillers.

On experiencing the ill effects of painkillers when people desperately try to search for non-drug alternatives for pain relief, they usually face a much harder time in gaining access to them. So in desperation they turn towards painkillers which are easily available which fuels their addiction.

If any of your near and dear ones are prescribed with painkillers, then you should be very particular that the doses are to be taken only as prescribed. If disease treatment requires long term administration of painkillers then in consultation with physician, drug rotation needs to be done to avoid addiction to a particular drug. Similarly painkillers dosage must never be increased or decreased without doctor’s advice. As with any medicine, treatment with painkillers must never be abruptly discontinued on your own and the doctor’s advice must always prevail in such situations.

Due to prescription by a doctor, if a painkiller has been advised for certain duration, then that duration must strictly be adhered to. Exceeding that duration and taking that painkiller for a longer period could lead to addiction. Painkillers should be taken in tablet/ capsule form as they are available in market and should never be crushed. Crushing a large dose could be released in the human body leading to severely toxic effect. These drugs are manufactured in a certain way which ensures that they are to be released slowly in our system.

Precautions must always be taken to use a painkiller which has not been prescribed to you by a doctor. Painkillers purchased over the counter may turn out to be counterproductive as their effect varies from person to person according to his or her tolerance level and also due to the other drugs he or she may be using.

When there is an overload of the uric acid in the body, it results into a disease called gout. Due to overload of uric acid in the body there forms tiny crystals of urate which deposits in the tissues of the body especially the joints are affected. Chronic gout is more harmful. It leads to deposits of uric acid in the form of hard lumps around the joints which may result into the destruction of the joint, kidney stones and also the decreased function of the kidney. When the formation of the crystal affects the joint then there is recurrence of the attacks of the inflammation of the joint. It is the severe form of the arthritis which is very painful.

Commonly the acute gout is attacked at the base of the big toe in the small joint. It is the most common site. Medically this site of attack of the gout is termed as podagra. Other places which are attacked by the gout are the joints of ankles, wrists, knees, elbows and fingers. We can characterize the attack of acute gout by observing the rapid onset of pain, reddish discoloration, swelling and also warmth in the affected area. It is also marked with tenderness which is so severe that even if the skin is touched by blanket, the pain is unbearable. With the acute attacks of the gout the patient may develop fever. With the help of medicines or even without medicines the pain of the affected area subsides within few hours or a day. It may last for weeks also in rare case. Over the years the patients with gout experiences the repeated attack of the arthritis.

Some of the natural remedies for gout -

It has been found that vitamin C is very effective and helpful in the treatment of gout. It helps in reducing the level of uric acid. So it is advisable to increase the intake of vitamin C in any form. But don’t take it more than 2000/day as it may result into gas, diarrhea and also the digestive upset. Cherries are also very popular as a natural treatment for gout. It is recommended to take one pound of cherries a day. They may be either eaten or may be diluted with water to make juice. Diet is very important for the treatment of gout. Milk and yoghurt contributes a lot in lowering the uric acid so it must be taken in plenty. Meat and seafood increases the risk of gout so they must be avoided.