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.

The most common types of symptoms that a person will suffer from when they have gout are as follows:

• When someone touches your joint (usually your big toe) it will feel warm and very tender to the touch. The toe joint will normally be inflamed and painful.
• Nighttime can often be the first time you notice the intent pain that gout can give you from even the light pressure of a bed sheet.
• If your toe joint feels like it is on fire and that pain goes on for several hours then the chances are you have gout. The pain should start to disperse over the following 2 days although it can take as long as a week to go totally.
• 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.

Like any illness, gout affects different people in different ways. Some people will recognize all the symptoms mentioned here while others won’t recognize any of them, you may only get pain in your elbows for example and none in the big toe joint which we mentioned.

The most common part of the human body where a person is likely to experience gout is the big toe joint. However, some people may develop gout in other joints in their bodies including their feet, ankles, knees, wrists, fingers as well as their elbows.

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.

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