Gout is a condition that commonly affects the base of your big toe, although it can occur in other places as well. Inflammation develops in the affected joint, causing attacks of severe pain. The cause is a buildup of crystals formed from excess uric acid in your blood.

Uric acid comes from purines, which are present in many kinds of foods. Your kidneys normally filter out uric acid and flush it away in your urine. However, if your body has high uric acid levels or your kidneys don’t filter enough of the acid out, you could develop gout.

The primary symptom of gout is acute pain in the joint. This pain is often so severe that patients can’t bear the lightest touch on their skin. While the big toe is where most patients develop gout, you could also have problems in your ankles, knees, elbows, wrists, and fingers.

In addition to the pain gout causes, you’re likely to experience symptoms such as:

• Reddened skin
• Heat in the joint
• Swelling
• Tenderness

An acute attack of gout might last for hours or even days but seldom any longer. However, you could suffer from regular gout attacks that leave you in severe pain and unable to move.

To diagnose your condition, your podiatrist at Innovation Medical Group examines your feet, reviews your medical history, and asks about your symptoms. They may draw a fluid sample from the affected joint for lab analysis.

Under a microscope, your provider can see the uric acid crystals causing gout. If there are no visible crystals, they also check for other possible causes of infection or inflammation.

During an attack of acute gout pain, anti-inflammatory medications like ibuprofen can help ease your symptoms. The medication colchicine also reduces gout inflammation and pain. Steroid injections into the joint or oral steroid medications are the most powerful anti-inflammatories available for treating gout.

You might benefit from taking medication that lowers uric acid levels between acute gout attacks. For example, your podiatrist at Innovation Medical Group may prescribe drugs like allopurinol to block the production of uric acid in your body or probenecid to improve your kidneys’ ability to extract excess uric acid from your blood.