Various characteristics and symptoms of gout

Gout is a form of arthritis that causes inflammation of the joints. This disease can cause various complications of uric acid that can interfere with health if not treated immediately. Therefore, it is important for you to control the symptoms of gout so that the disease does not get worse. Then, what are the symptoms, characteristics, and signs of gout?

General symptoms and characteristics of gout

Gout or gout is a disease that more often affects adults, especially men. The cause of gout is uric acid levels (uric acid) which is too high. This condition causes a buildup of uric acid and the formation of uric acid crystals in the joints, causing inflammation.

However, not everyone with high uric acid levels will show certain symptoms or characteristics. Symptoms will be felt when the patient has an acute gout attack or is already experiencing a chronic condition.

These gout attacks generally appear suddenly and often occur at night. These attacks can last for days or weeks. Then it subsides for a long time and comes back at a time if your uric acid levels are not controlled.

The big toe is the part of the joint with the most symptoms. However, other joints can be affected too, such as the knees, ankles, elbows, wrists, and fingers. In general, the symptoms, signs, or features of gout are:

• Joint pain

Joint pain is one of the most common signs when uric acid levels are present in high blood. Pain can occur due to uric acid crystals that form under the skin around the joints. These crystals are small, but sharp so they can cause pain to the sufferer.

The pain in the joints usually starts in the morning. Then it will get worse in the first 4-12 hours after noticing the pain in the joint.

• Swollen and tender joints

The characteristics of you experiencing gout pain can also be seen from the appearance of problematic joints. Joints that are problematic due to high uric acid levels will look swollen and feel tender when pressed.

This swelling occurs when the small, hard, sharp crystals that form in the joint rub against the soft layer that protects the joint, which is called the synovium. This condition causes the lining of the synovium to enlarge and feel soft when pressed.

• The skin around the joints is reddish

Other signs of gout that may appear include redness of the skin around the affected joint. This is a common reaction when you have inflammation.

The reason is, when inflammation occurs, blood flow will increase traveling to the affected part of the body, which is called vasodilation. When affected in a joint, this condition causes the skin in the affected joint to become red.

• The joint feels warm or hot

Gout can also cause symptoms in the form of joints that feel hot. In fact, some people described the joints as burning. Like redness, this hot sensation is also an effect of the inflammatory process.

The inflammatory process, aka inflammation, will trigger the body's immune system to release cytokine compounds. The release of these cytokines can trigger inflammation, causing swelling, redness, and warmth in the joints affected by gout.

• The joints feel stiff

In more severe cases of gout, the joints may also become stiff, making it difficult to move. However, usually these signs will only appear when you have experienced several attacks of gout or already suffer from chronic gout.

The symptoms and characteristics of gout are less common

The symptoms above are common if you experience gout pain. However, other, less common symptoms may appear depending on the severity of the disease you have. These are less common signs and features if you have high uric acid levels:

• Flu-like symptoms

Inflammation experienced when uric acid levels are high can become severe if left untreated, including with gout medications. This condition can become chronic gout and can cause other symptoms, namely fever, muscle aches, and fatigue. All three are similar to flu symptoms, which generally occur when the body fights off viruses and bacteria.

These flu-like symptoms occur because the body's immune system continuously releases white blood cells and special antibodies to fight inflammation in the joints.

Over time, these white blood cells and antibodies can damage the surrounding healthy tissues and organs because it seems as if there are foreign substances that need to be fought. This condition then causes the same symptoms when the body fights against viruses and bacteria during the flu.

• Tophi

Another feature of severe gout disease is the deposition of uric acid crystals under the skin. These crystalline deposits form small, hard lumps called tophi.

Generally, tophi forms on the toes, the back of the heel, the front of the knee, the back of the fingers and wrists, around the elbows, and in the ears.

Tophi is usually painless. However, in some cases, the lumps can become inflamed and ooze. In addition, tophi can also grow in joints and cause damage to cartilage and bones. This condition can cause pain when you move the affected joint.

• Formation of kidney stones

The formation of uric acid crystals can also form in the urinary tract, causing kidney stones. Reporting from Creaky Joints, this kidney stone is actually more of a complication of gout rather than a symptom.

However, the formation of kidney stones can be one of the signs that the uric acid you are experiencing is getting worse. In fact, these kidney stones can get bigger and feel very painful.

• Back or hip pain

The symptoms and symptoms of joint pain due to gout are commonly felt in the feet, or specifically the big toe. However, there is also pain due to gout that appears in the back or hips.

This symptom can occur if the gout disease you have has spread to the joints in the spine, to be precise in the joints named sacroiliac located on either side of the pelvis between the sacrum and ilium. However, these cases and symptoms are very rare.

Symptoms of gout are based on the stages

Gout symptoms can differ from person to person depending on the severity of the disease. The following symptoms may appear based on the stages of gout or gout:

• The first stage

At this stage, uric acid levels are high and urate crystals have formed in the joints. However, there are no signs or signs of uric acid that can be felt and seen.

These uric acid crystals can cause joint inflammation at a later date. However, most people with uric acid levels height may never experience gout.

• Second stage (acute)

At this stage, uric acid crystals have caused inflammation to cause symptoms. The attacks of gout symptoms can occur suddenly, including at night, such as pain, swelling, redness, and a feeling of heat in the joints.

• Third stage (Intercritical)

At this stage, gout sufferers generally don't feel any symptoms. This is the stage where the gout attacks have subsided, but other attacks can occur at a time, especially if your uric acid levels are not controlled.

At this stage, gout sufferers seem to have improved, but actually need long-term treatment to control uric acid levels and prevent uric acid from recurring at any one time.

• Fourth stage (chronic)

In the chronic stage, gout attacks, in the form of pain, swelling, redness, and a burning sensation in the joints, have occurred several times and less common symptoms, such as lumps (tophi). Even at this stage, progressive joint damage has developed and the patient needs immediate treatment.