Dehydration and Gout Pain: Understanding the Link

All it takes is just one go-round with gout to understand that this form of inflammatory arthritis can be very painful. For the millions of people with gout — about 12 million people in the United States — managing the pain during flare-ups is a top priority.

While many people with gout understand some of the common triggers, such as alcohol, sugar, and meat, fewer people realize that dehydration can play a significant role.

To shed some light on the link between gout and dehydration, the skilled team of foot health experts at Neuhaus Foot and Ankle pulled together the following information.

Behind gout flare-ups

To understand the role that dehydration plays in both triggering gout and making the pain worse during an attack, let’s first review what occurs when you have gout.

In short, gout is caused by a buildup of uric acid in your bloodstream, which occurs when your body breaks down purines. It’s impossible to avoid purines — these molecules are found in all cells in all living things. In fact, about two-thirds of the purines in your body are your own.

It’s the other third, the purines that you take in from elsewhere, that we’re concerned with. When you introduce outside purines, they are metabolized through your digestive system, and the result of this metabolization is uric acid. This uric acid is then processed through your kidneys and excreted through your urine.

Gout occurs when the level of purines in your body outpaces its ability to process them. As a result, there’s extra uric acid in your bloodstream, which can build up and form painful crystals in your joints, especially in your big toe.

Dehydration and gout

Now that we have a better understanding of how a gout attack occurs let’s take a closer look at the role that hydration plays. 

Your kidneys are responsible for filtering your blood and removing excess uric acid. The key to this filtration process is water, which promotes optimal kidney function. Water not only helps your kidneys remove waste through urine but also keeps your blood vessels open, which allows for easier filtration.

So, if you have gout, keep drinking water, stay well hydrated, and be careful when it comes to alcohol.

A great way to prevent gout is to drink plenty of water each day — at least 11.5 cups for women and 15.5 cups for men. And you should do the same during a gout flareup to help flush out the uric acid in your body.

Alcohol and dehydration

While alcohol, especially beer and any sugary drinks, contains higher levels of purine, the other reason why you should avoid alcohol when you have gout is because it’s a diuretic.

What this means is that alcohol causes you to urinate more, which can lead to lower fluid and electrolyte levels in your body (dehydration). As we just discussed, dehydration should be avoided when you have gout because it disrupts your ability to flush out excess uric acid.

So, if you have gout, keep drinking water and stay well hydrated and be careful when it comes to alcohol.

For more great tips about how to manage gout, as well as treatments to help manage an attack, we invite you to contact one of our 16 locations in Tennessee to schedule an appointment.