What does a Gout attack feel like?
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The condition known as gout will normally take several years to form before a person starts to suffer from it. This is because the uric acid crystals need time to build up in a person’s joints and the tissue surrounding it before gout symptoms and signs begin to show.If people suffer with one or more of these then they usually find they have gout:-
1. They will feel some warmth along with extreme tenderness when the infected joint is touched. Normally the joint most commonly affected by this condition is the big toe. But as well as the warmth and tenderness a person will notice the joint has become inflamed and it is also painful. These particular symptoms of gout are more commonly referred to as podagra.
2. No one who hasn’t had a gout attack start at bedtime can believe how much pain can come just from the brushing of your partners foot against the infected joint, normally your big toe.
3. Many people who suffer from gout find that when an attack occurs the discomfort that they feel comes on very rapidly and may last for a few hours during the night. But then the discomfort that they are feeling will slowly begin to ease once more over the following 2 to 7 days.
4. Gout attacks do subside, I know if you are reading this while having an attack that may be hard to believe, after the pain starts going away you can expect the affected joint to be itchy and you may also see some peeling skin.
The above are just some of the symptoms that people with gout may have. Not everyone who suffers with the above will have gout and not every gout sufferer will suffer with all (or any) of these symptoms.
While it is usually your big toe joint that suffers the effects of gout , which of course makes walking very painful, you can also get it in any joint in your body. This includes your fingers, elbows, ankles and even your wrists.
If you have recently had surgery then there is a increased chance that you will have a gout attack. These after surgery attacks seem to be short in length, although just as painful as any other attack, it can also be treated as a side effect of the surgery rather than actual gout.
It is important however that should a person start to suffer from any of the gout symptoms we have mentioned above they should seek medical advice as soon as possible. Although the pain caused by an attack normally relieves itself a few days after the attack taking the right kind of medication can help to prevent the chance of such attacks occurring again.
