People often get attacks of gout at night. The pain may wake you from your sleep. The joints most likely to get gout are in the big toe, foot, ankle, knee, wrist, finger and elbow.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Underwood M.
Diagnosis and management of gout.
BMJ. 2006; 332: 1315-1319.

 

 

 

 

 

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Your affected joint will probably swell up. The skin around it may look red, shiny and

 

 

 

 

 

inflammation
If your skin or some other part of your body becomes red, swollen, hot or sore, we say it is inflamed. It means that your body is trying to protect you from germs, from something in your body tissues that can hurt you (like a thorn or sliver), or from things that cause allergies (allergens). Inflammation is part of the way the body heals an infection or injury.

 

 

 

 

 

inflamed. You may also notice that:

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
U.S. National Library of Medicine.
MedlinePlus medical encylopedia: acute gouty arthritis.
April 2007. Available at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus (accessed on 15 December 2008).

 

 

 

 

 

²

The pain is worse if you bump the joint. You may find that even the weight of your bedding over your foot makes it too sore to bear.

Doctors can usually diagnose gout by examining the swollen joint. Your doctor will probably also do a blood test, to check how much urate you have in your blood. If you have a high level of urate, it's more likely that gout is causing the problem.

If your doctor is not sure whether you have gout, another test may be done. The doctor will take some of the fluid out of the swollen joint, using a needle and syringe, and send it to the laboratory. The laboratory will then look at the fluid under a microscope. If you have gout, they may be able to see urate crystals in the fluid.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Snaith M.
ABC of rheumatology: gout, hyperuricaemia and crystal arthritis.
BMJ. 1995; 310: 521-524.

 

 

 

 

 

³

Sometimes, urate crystals form under the skin, on your hands, knees, wrists, elbows and ears. They look like white bumps. Doctors call these bumps tophi.

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