If you suffer from the condition, then you likely don't need any additional motivation to treat gout than to simply make the pain and discomfort go away. It is a very unpleasant sensation which can cause substantial frustration and inconvenience in your life. However, worse than that is that it can build up to cause permanent joint damage that will lead you to far greater problems later in life, beyond the occasional gout attack.

The first step to reducing the chances of permanent joint damage after experiencing gout attacks is to treat gout by preventing their occurrence in the first place. This will involve certain life changes which, when considering the outcome, are well worth the alterations in habit. This includes avoiding alcoholic beverages or eliminating them altogether from your diet.

It will also mean that you will need to achieve a healthy body weight and maintain that weight. Any weight change program you choose should be discussed with your doctor, as you will want to make sure it is a gradual process and not an effort to starve yourself and drop pounds rapidly. You may even find that the weight loss alone is enough to set your uric acid levels back to the right amounts.

Furthermore, you will want to talk to your doctor about any drugs you are taking, as some drugs are known to increase the levels of uric acid in your blood, making it harder to treat gout and making it more likely that you will experience an attack.

Keep in mind that you will also want to eat several smaller meals throughout the day, and make sure that those meals are low in purines, which will also help to keep your uric acid levels under control.

More preventative ways to treat gout so that you will lower your risk of permanent damage to your joints includes taking certain prescribed medications. This will help you to relieve attacks when they happen or prevent them from occurring. Colchicine, for example, is often prescribed to prevent attacks by taking it daily; it also dramatically reduces the frequency of the attacks. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), when taking on a daily basis can also help you to reduce the frequency of your attacks.

It is important to know, though, that as important as all of your preventative efforts are, they cannot turn around damage that has already been done. You should also make your doctor aware of any other medications that you may be taking, or any other health conditions you may have, because drug conflicts may occur, and preventative drugs can cause harm to people who are at risk of kidney or liver disease.

The key to preventing your joints from being permanently damaged is to achieve a gout diagnosis in time, and to begin to treat gout early. You should also look for external factors you've never considered before, such as the climate in which you live. There are many causes to gout that you may not know and that your doctor can help you to recognize.