Gout: Symptoms

What are the symptoms of gout?

Gout is a chronic disease that can cause symptoms in acute stages called attacks or flares. Gout flares can last from days to several weeks. Flares can occur regularly for some people, while for others they may occur every few months or even years apart.

Gout flares often include these symptoms in and around joints:

• Burning or heat

• Pain

• Redness

• Stiffness

• Swelling

• Tenderness

For many people, gout flares affect a single lower-body joint at a time, such as the big toe, ankle, heel, or knee. Inflammation can also occur in a finger, wrist, elbow, or other joint area. The symptoms can range from mild to severe and often begin in the middle of the night.

Left untreated, acute gout flares can result in chronic gout or gouty arthritis. This can cause long-term damage to the joints and kidneys, debilitating joint pain, kidney stones, and painful clusters of uric acid under the skin called tophi. Seek prompt medical care if you have symptoms of gout, such as severe joint pain, swelling, burning or redness.

Seek immediate medical care (call 911) if you have symptoms of a kidney stone, such as severe flank or abdominal pain, which may occur with bloody urine, reduced urination, or the inability to urinate.