Gout Cause Symptoms

Gout symptoms usually come in form of sudden onset at the affected joint. The skin around the joint will become red and swollen, as well as feels hot. Mostly happens at the big toe, but gout can also affects other joints in the body. Gout attacks after years of accumulated uric acid crystals in the joints and surrounding tissues. If you look carefully, the symptoms of gout include the feeling of warmth, pain, swelling and tenderness in any joint. Gout symptoms usually start at night with intense pain and can continue up to several days or even weeks. If you feel rapid discomfort at night with those symptoms in joint, take the medicines soon to lessen the symptoms.

Symptoms of gout can vary from one to another. Some people can also have fevers, extremely reddish skin around the joint, purplish skin, and limited movement in the joint as the symptoms, while others can get gout attack after a surgery or certain illness. Gout symptoms should normally be painful, unless you are getting the chronic gout attack. Chronic gout attacks are less painful and harder to identify.

The accumulated uric acid crystals in the blood are the main cause of gout symptoms and attacks. It usually takes years to build up such accumulation, but you might not realize until the symptoms become clear.

There are however other health problems that have similar symptoms to gout attack, and thus you should be careful to differentiate. Or, you should check if you have the symptoms for gout and also other diseases. The health conditions that share similar symptoms with those of gout are:

1. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), which tends to affect more than one joint and on both sides of body, especially in the hands and wrists. If the symptoms happen at the feet and toes’ joints, then it is less likely to be Rheumatoid arthritis.
2. Bacteria infection at affected joint. If the joint has infection, you should consult the doctor soon because further medication may be required. The symptoms can also be the signs of HIV infection, diabetes, kidney infection, skin infection, fever, pneumonia, problem at prosthetic joint, and others.
3. Pseudogout, which has symptoms such as swelling and pain at joints. Pseudogout usually attacks the knee, wrist, and ankle. It is caused by the accumulation of calcium around the joint.
4. Osteoarthritis, which develops slowly but surely. You may not realize if you are getting osteoarthritis. The symptoms are slower and not intensive.