Symptoms Of Gout

By Kathy Nelson

The uric acid crystals that cause gout will have been building up in your joints for years before they cause your first actual attack of gout. You may not even realize that the aches and pains are not just normal aging pains until you have a full blown gout attack.

If you have any of the following symptoms then there is a good chance you have gout:-

1. They will feel some warmth along with extreme tenderness when the infected joint is touched. Normally the joint most commonly affected by this condition is the big toe. But as well as the warmth and tenderness a person will notice the joint has become inflamed and it is also painful. These particular symptoms of gout are more commonly referred to as podagra.

2. No one who hasn't had a gout attack start at bedtime can believe how much pain can come just from the brushing of your partners foot against the infected joint, normally your big toe.

3. If your toe joint feels like it is on fire and that pain goes on for several hours then the chances are you have gout. The pain should start to disperse over the following 2 days although it can take as long as a week to go totally.

4. When the gout attack actually begins to subside then the person finds that the skin around the joint, which is affected, may feel itchy and starts to peel.

As well as the symptoms mentioned above there are others that a person may also suffer from if they have a gout attack. But it is important to note however that not everyone who has gout will suffer from these symptoms and the severity of them will vary also.

The most common part of the human body where a person is likely to experience gout is the big toe joint. However, some people may develop gout in other joints in their bodies including their feet, ankles, knees, wrists, fingers as well as their elbows.

In a large number of cases a person often suffers from gout symptoms following an illness or after undergoing surgery and these attacks although painful are short lived. However for those who suffer from chronic gout the attacks are far less painful and in some cases may be diagnosed incorrectly. In some cases especially in older people the gout can actually be confused as being some form or arthritis instead. In fact a chronic gout sufferer is unlikely to suffer from the symptoms very closely associated with acute gout.

It is important however that should a person start to suffer from any of the gout symptoms we have mentioned above they should seek medical advice as soon as possible. Although the pain caused by an attack normally relieves itself a few days after the attack taking the right kind of medication can help to prevent the chance of such attacks occurring again. - 30540

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