Imagine waking during the middle of the night to pain in the large joint at the bottom of one of your big toes. When you turn on the light, you see the joint is swollen and red. The pain is so intense that you can’t stand the weight of the bedsheet on your toe. You mentally consider and exclude causes such as a broken toe, an insect bite, and a cut. You begin to wonder if you have arthritis, and recall that your favorite uncle had gout. You try to recall what the symptoms of gout are.
The painful scenario described above is a reality for millions of people who are affected by gout. Gout arthritis develops when uric acid crystals precipitate in joints. These crystals are needle-like structures that irritate joint tissues and lead to inflammation. During the inflammatory process, cells and fluid move into the joint in response to the crystals, causing the toe to become swollen, warm, and painful.
Listed below are some features of gout arthritis that may help you determine if you are experiencing a gout attack or some other problem:
1. Gout attacks usually develop abruptly, with pain becoming more and more intense over a period of six to 12 hours. The first gout attack a person experiences usually goes away in a few days. Severe gout attacks can continue for weeks.
2. The first gout attack a person experiences usually occurs during the night, when the body’s temperature is lower. Uric acid crystals deposit more readily in joints that are at a lower temperature.
3. Temperature is a factor in the sites of gout attacks, since the arms and legs have a lower temperature than the torso and these sites are affected by gout. The big toe is the joint most often affected in a gout attack, but gout can involve the finger, wrist, ankle. knee and hip joints as well. Gout is not limited to the limbs, though, and can lead to crystal deposits in organs, such as the kidneys.
A person should always seek medical advice to diagnose and treat joint pain, since the features mentioned above are not unique to gout attacks. Repeated episodes of pain and inflammation can occur, if gout is not diagnosed and properly treated. If a person suspects he has the symptoms of gout, treatment should be sought to lessen the chance of future attacks.
The author, Delanie Rossini, has more than 22 years of experience in the study of disease processes. Before you order another ebook that promises to relieve your gout, get the real scoop on symptoms of gout, gout foods to avoid, and gout remedies.