What Is Gout?
Gout is the most common type of inflammatory arthritis. You will have sudden pain, redness, and swelling in one or more of your joints. These are called gout flares.
Gout flares often affect your big toe, foot, and ankle. Gout can occasionally affect other joints. However, gout occurs most often in your foot and ankle.
Gout Symptoms
Gout causes periods of sudden, severe symptoms. You often get these symptoms at night or early in the morning:
- A joint that is extremely tender to the touch
- Intense pain
- Limited range of motion in the affected joint
- Redness or skin darkening around the affected joint
- Swelling and warmth around the affected joint
Your symptoms are usually most severe for the first 4–24 hours but can last for days. You may have lingering pain for several days or weeks.
What Causes Gout?
Gout develops when monosodium urate crystals build up in one of your joints. Monosodium urate crystals can form when your body produces too much uric acid, doesn’t pass uric acid through your urine, or both. Uric acid is a waste product your body makes when breaking down certain chemicals (purines).
You may be more likely to develop gout if you have the following risk factors:
- You’re over 30, but your risk increases with age.
- You have a family history of gout.
- You have health conditions such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, chronic kidney disease, high blood pressure, and elevated lipids.
- You take medicine that increases your uric acid levels.
- You are a man.
Gout Treatment
The goal of gout treatment is to reduce how severe your gout flares are and how often you get them. Your primary care provider or rheumatologist may recommend several treatments to manage your symptoms:
- Anti-inflammatory medications to treat gout flares by lowering pain and inflammation and reduce further flares.
- Urate-lowering medications to help reduce the amount of uric acid in your blood.
Gout Surgery
In rare cases, your primary care provider or rheumatologist may refer you to a foot and ankle surgeon. Your surgeon may operate to remove large, hardened urate crystal deposits. These urate crystal deposits distort the shape of your joint. You may need a joint replacement for severe joint disfigurement.
How to Stop Gout Pain at Night
Many people get severe gout flares at night. The pain may be so sudden and intense that it wakes you up.
The best way to stop gout pain at night is with anti-inflammatory medications. Your provider may also prescribe a medication.
Interested In Participating In a Clinical Trial?
Our rheumatologists may also offer you clinical trial treatments for gout flares. Clinical trials investigate drugs to see if they can reduce your symptoms. Call 801-213-1558 or email goutstudies@med.utah.edu to learn more about our gout clinical study.
Gout Self-Care & Home Remedies
Find a Rheumatologist
Schedule an Appointment for Gout Treatment
Your primary care provider will treat your gout pain. You may call 801-213-9500 or schedule an appointment online with your primary care provider.
Your primary care provider may refer you to rheumatologist for a complex case of gout, if needed. Call 801-581-7724 to make an appointment with a rheumatologist.
Hear From Our Specialists
What Is Gout and Am I At Risk?
You may have heard about gout in history class, but it is still around today. If anyone in your family has suffered from the condition, you may be at risk. Tom Miller, MD, explains what causes gout, how to prevent it, and the potential treatments available for this painful disease.