How Will Gout Affect Me
Attacks can vary from person to person. Some people only have an attack every few years, while others have attacks every few months.
Without medication attacks tend to happen more often and other joints can become affected.
Having high urate levels and gout for a long time can lead to other health problems, including:
- narrowing of the arteries – which can lead to an increased risk of stroke or heart attacks or other heart problems
- osteoarthritis, which occurs when the urate crystals and hard tophi cause joint damage.
- an increased risk of developing kidney disease or worsening of the condition if you already have it
- kidney stones
- an increased risk of some cancers, especially prostate cancer
- mental health problems, including depression
- underactive thyroid
- erectile dysfunction in men.
If you take medication to lower your urate levels, and have a healthy diet and lifestyle, most of the damage and complications caused by gout can be stopped.
Treatments for gout are incredibly successful. There are two main parts to treating gout, which are:
- treating the acute attack
- treatments to prevent future attacks.
Arthritis / Acute Gout Attack
Gout is a form of arthritis, hence it causes pain and discomfort in the joints. A typical gout attack is characterized by the sudden onset of severe pain, swelling, warmth, and redness of a joint. The clinical presentation of acute gouty arthritis is not subtle with very few mimics other than a bacterial infection.
The joint most commonly involved in gout is the first metatarsophalangeal joint , and is called podagra. Any joint may be involved in a gout attack with the most frequent sites being in the feet, ankles, knees, and elbows.
An acute gout attack will generally reach its peak 12-24 hours after onset, and then will slowly begin to resolve even without treatment. Full recovery from a gout attack takes approximately 7-14 days.
An accurate and colorful discription of a gout attack was elegantly written in 1683 by Dr. Thomas Sydenham who was himself a sufferer of gout:
When To See A Doctor
If your swollen finger persists for a prolonged period of time and worsens despite not seeming related to a traumatic event, make an appointment with your doctor. Depending on the cause your doctor may initiate:
- Antibiotics: Your doctor will prescribe antibiotics if your swollen finger is due to a bacterial infection. The antibiotics will combat the infection and allow the body to lessen its inflammatory response.
- Rheumatologic medications: There are many different types of medications that combat rheumatologic conditions that may be causing your swollen finger. Talk to your doctor to discuss and come to an agreement about the best type of treatment.
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What Causes Gout In The Thumb
Gout develops when the body has high levels of uric acid, a normal waste product. This is known as hyperuricemia.
Uric acid is normally excreted through the body via the kidneys, but in some people, levels can remain high and uric acid can start to accumulate and crystallize in various joints. When these uric acid crystals affect the joints in the thumb, it can cause gout in the thumb, making it red, swollen, and hot to the touch, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Gout flares commonly affect the big toe, especially at first, but they can occur in joints all over the body.
What Is Gout Know The Signs And Risk Factors
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Medically Reviewed by UPMC Orthopaedic Care
Gout is a potentially debilitating form of inflammatory arthritis that causes pain, redness, stiffness, and swelling in your joints. More than 8 million people in the United States have gout.
The condition usually affects one joint at a time. About half of all gout attacks begin in the big toe, but it also can occur in the ankles, heels, knees, wrists, fingers, and elbows.
Although gout can cause pain, it can be managed with proper treatment.
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Middle Knuckle Finger Dislocation
The middle knuckle is called the proximal interphalangeal joint. A PIP joint dislocation occurs when trauma causes the bones of the finger to dislodge, resulting in a very painful and swollen joint.
Rarity: Rare
Top Symptoms: bent or crooked finger, finger dislocation at the knuckle connected to the palm, pain in the middle knuckle of the finger, finger pain from an injury, swelling of the small knuckle of the dmiddle index finger
Symptoms that always occur with middle knuckle finger dislocation: bent or crooked finger, finger dislocation at the knuckle connected to the palm
Urgency: Primary care doctor
When You Get Burning Pain In The Base Of The Thumb It Could Be From A Gout Flare Here Are More Signs Your Thumb Joint Inflammation Could Be Gout And How To Treat Your Thumb Pain
Stiff joints in the hand can be a symptom of several types of arthritis. But if you also have burning pain, such as at the base of the thumb, you could be having a gout flare in the thumb.
Thumb pain caused by a gout attack can be especially debilitating because we use our thumbs so often. Every time you pick up your phone, grab a doorknob, or grasp a mug, your gout-inflamed thumb is forced to move at a joint where uric acid crystals are causing severe inflammation and extreme pain.
Most commonly, gout pain in any joint is more intense than that of pain from other kinds of arthritis, such as rheumatoid arthritis, says Theodore Fields, MD, Attending Rheumatologist at Hospital for Special Surgery and Professor of Clinical Medicine at Weill Cornell College of Medicine in New York City.
Gout flares are usually associated with signs of active inflammation, including redness, heat, swelling, and pain. Gout in the thumb can occur at the middle joint or at the joint where the thumb meets the hand.
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Southern Cross Medical Library
The purpose of the Southern Cross Medical Library is to provide information of a general nature to help you better understand certain medical conditions. Always seek specific medical advice for treatment appropriate to you. This information is not intended to relate specifically to insurance or healthcare services provided by Southern Cross. For more articles go to the Medical Library index page.
How Can I Manage My Gout And Improve My Quality Of Life
Gout affects many aspects of daily living, including work and leisure activities. Fortunately, there are many low-cost self-management strategies that are proven to improve the quality of life of people with gout.
For gout in particular:
- Eat a healthy diet. Avoid foods that may trigger a gout flare, including foods high in purines , and limit alcohol intake .
CDCs Arthritis Program recommends five self-management strategies for managing arthritis and its symptoms. These can help with gout as well.
Also Check: How To Know If I Have Gout In My Foot
Treatments Your Physician May Prescribe
The goals of treatment of gout are to reduce the pain associated with acute attacks, to prevent future attacks from occurring, and to avoid the formation of tophi and kidney stones.Your physician may recommend one or more of the following treatments for acute attacks:
- Rest and elevation of the affected joint
- Anti-inflammatory medications, including ibuprofen, naproxen, or indomethacin
- Colchicine
- Corticosteroids such as triamcinolone injections or prednisone pills
- Low-purine diet
- Allopurinol
- Probenecid
How Can I Tell If I Have A Broken Knuckle
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Your knuckles are an essential part of your hand. They are what give your fingers their dexterity and their ability to move. But as strong and vital your knuckles are, they can still be broken. As you can imagine, having a broken knuckle is not an enjoyable experience. It comes with several different symptoms, such as pain and swelling. A broken knuckle limits your fingers mobility and prevents you from carrying out a lot of your daily activities.
Most people break their knuckles when they punch something, usually a hard surface. The symptoms associated with a broken knuckle are very similar to those associated with other injuries that you have in your hand.
For many people, the first sign of a broken knuckle is pain. The pain is instant, and it is severe. Contrary to what some believe, you might still be able to bend a broken knuckle. You might even be able to bend it without increasing the pain, but this does not mean that it is not broken. Depending on the location of the break, pain might increase as you try to move the broken knuckle.
The next symptom you are going to experience is swelling. Most people say that their hand starts to swell around 10 minutes after they break their knuckle. As the swelling increases, your ability to move your hand drastically decreases. Interestingly, you may notice that other fingers also begin to swell, not simply the one that is broken.
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Causes Of Gout In Fingers
Gout attacks in fingers are more common in older people because they have chronic uric acid build-up. Gout in fingers is most commonly seen in post-menopause older women. Uric acid is a waste product formed by the metabolism of purines. Excessive uric acid is processed in the kidneys and passed out of the body in the urine.
When uric acid levels increase beyond the capacity of kidneys to eliminate them from the body, uric acid starts to accumulate and crystallize in the tissues, particularly in and around the joints, which results in pain and swelling in the joint. These crystals are more probably formed at cooler body temperature. Thats why gout is more common in toes and fingers.
Decreased Excretion Of Uric Acid
Two thirds of urate excretion occurs in the kidneys while the rest is excreted through the gastrointestinal tract . Reduced secretory function of the transporter ABCG2 leads to decreased excretion of uric acid through the GIT resulting in rise of serum levels of uric acid and enhanced renal excretion .
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Signs Symptoms And Treatment
Our fingers are important! We use them constantly, all day long: to brush our teeth, to send emails, to cook our meals. When arthritis affects the fingers, everyday tasks become difficult and painful. So what can we do when our finger joints begin to cause problems?
This article provides more information about arthritis in the fingers, what causes it, and what you can do to help keep your fingers moving.
Verywell / Cindy Chung
Is Thumb Pain Due To Gout Or Something Else
Many gout attacks are so painful that they are not subtle or easy to miss. However, not all gout flares present in the same way . Answering yes to most of these questions could help determine that your thumb pain could be from gout in your thumb:
- Have you experienced sudden shooting pain in your thumb?
- Does this pain last for a day to a week or two and then subside or lessen?
- Do you notice redness and swelling around either thumb joint?
- Is your thumb back to normal after the pain and swelling goes away?
- Have you been experiencing sudden pain in your foot, ankle, or other joint prior to your thumb pain, especially with redness, heat, and swelling?
While the pain of a gout attack is distinct, other forms of arthritis could be to blame for thumb pain, including rheumatoid arthritis or psoriatic arthritis.
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What To Do During An Attack
You should:
- take any medication you’ve been prescribed as early as possible after you notice an attack this should start to have an effect within two or three days
- rest and raise the limb
- avoid knocking or damaging the affected joint
- keep the joint cool remove surrounding clothing and apply an ice pack, such as a bag of frozen peas wrapped in a towel
- ensure you’re well hydrated
Apply the ice pack to your joint for around 20 minutes. Don’t apply ice directly to your skin and don’t apply it for more than 20 minutes at a time because this could damage the skin.
If necessary, you can keep reapplying an ice pack to your skin during an attack, but you should wait until your skin has returned to a normal temperature first.
What Is Gout Of The Hand
Gout of the hand is an acute, painful condition in which one or more joints in the hand or fingers become inflamed, swollen, red, and stiff. People can experience a single episode of gout that lasts for several days or frequently recurring attacks. Joint inflammation is caused by abnormally high levels of uric acid in the bloodstream, which can be due to an overproduction in the body or consuming too much dietary uric acid. Most cases of gout in the hands can be treated with prescription anti-inflammatory medications.
Uric acid is a natural byproduct of cell metabolism. In normal amounts, most of the acid is filtered by the kidneys and excreted from the body through urine. Gout develops when uric acid levels are too high and hard crystals start to form in body joints. Most cases of gout affect the big toe, ankle, or knee joint, though gout of the hand is not uncommon. Men are more susceptible than women, and excessive drinking, obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure can all raise a person’s risk of developing gout.
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Why Do Your Thumbs Have Gout
Uric acid comes out of your body through the kidneys. However, in some cases, the acid level may be high, and it will begin to accumulate slowly in different joints. Thus, your thumb may also have gout causing red and swollen conditions.
Initially, you will notice gout flares in your big toe, and then it will spread over other joints of your body.
What Does Gout Look Like In Your Finger
Im incredibly sorry for the delay.
The full detailed video on What Does Gout Look Like In Your Finger is now out:
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Recommended Reading: Early Signs Of Gout In Big Toe
What Increases Your Chances For Gout
The following make it more likely that you will develop hyperuricemia, which causes gout:
- Being male
Who Is At Risk Of Gout
Gout is sometimes called the disease of kings because of a false link to overindulgence in food and alcohol. Anyone can get the condition, but certain factors can increase your risk:
- Gender: Males are more likely to get gout than females.
- Age: Middle-aged and older men and women after menopause are more at risk for gout.
- Obesity
- Family history
- Diet: A diet high in purines, which are broken down into uric acid, can lead to gout. High purine foods include meats like bacon, turkey, veal, venison, and liver, and seafood like anchovies, sardines, mussels, codfish, scallops, trout, and haddock. High fructose foods and drinks such as soda pop also can increase your risk.
- Alcohol use
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