Recently I woke with my foot hurting. Not the worst pain I have ever had but bad. Having a dislocated shoulder put back in while in the field may have been the worse but it was shorter in duration. Using the Internet I found the photos and symptoms looked exactly like gout. I bought the herbs to treat gout of which the most important is unsweetened tart cherry juice. Since gout is caused by uric acid I also brought herbs for a liver and kidney cleanse. It is these organs job to among other things eliminate uric acid. If I have gout then something might be going wrong there. I also bought a home uric acid urine test kit. The kit arrived and it said I had low normal uric acid! This cannot then be gout. Dong an AI search I found out about Pseudogout: Caused by calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate (CPPD) crystals deposited in the joints. Similar symptoms and pain level as gout but different herbal treatment!
I also spoke to my friend Dr. Dean Howell, He is a famous naturalpathic doctor known for inventing Neural Cranial Alignment. Since it was not gout and he didn’t believe it was Pseudogout he suggested that it may be Felon’s Foot. I never heard of Felon’s Foot but a quick search and I learned what I needed. The treatment switched and results were immediate. I have had this problem for about a week and it is already remarkably better. I will continue on my course and hopefully it will be fully cured in another 2 weeks.
I am not sure what the moral of this story is, if there is one. I guess it exhibits more about me. I have a high tolerance for pain, self sufficiency and I don’t give up. Even when I thought I found the problem, I kept looking and asking friends with more expertise than myself. That quickly lead to a new and working solution.
In closing, when you think you know, you don’t. Keep on looking. Never settle for the first answer because it may not work. Don’t settle for the second answer. Keep studying until the problem is resolved. Once the problem is solved do a full review in your mind so if it happens again, you will already have the understanding you need to resolve it quickly.
© September 2025 by Peter V. Radatti