Gout Treatment
Uric-acid crystal arthritis — diagnosis and treatment at Arthritis Care of Texas.
Gout happens when a waste product in the blood (uric acid) builds up and forms sharp crystals in a joint. This causes sudden, severe pain, redness, and swelling, often in the big toe. Treatment eases attacks and lowers uric acid to prevent new ones.
Gout can be controlled completely — and that is the goal. Uric-acid crystals dissolve when the blood level is kept low long enough. Success looks like no flares at all, shrinking or vanished tophi (uric-acid lumps), and a uric acid level under target on your labs. Unlike most arthritis, gout’s cause can actually be removed — with steady treatment.
Gout is a very painful form of arthritis that presents in acute and sudden attacks of intense pain. Though gout attacks most frequently occur at night, they can happen at any time with little or no warning. The most common symptom is extreme sensitivity, pain and tenderness at the base of the toe or in another joint, such as those of the hands, knees, or ankles. Severe symptoms may persist for several hours during an attack, after which the residual pain may continue for several weeks.
Did you know… as much as 1 percent of American adults currently suffer from gout? The disease is especially common among post-menopausal women and people over age 40. However, younger people are also at risk — especially individuals with a family history of the condition.
Could I be at risk of developing gout, or suffering from it now?
Nearly anyone can develop gout, but people with chronic medical conditions such as hypertension and diabetes are at elevated risk. You could also be at higher risk if you have a family history of the disease or regularly take aspirin or diuretics. Other risk factors include excessive alcohol consumption, age, genetics, and the use of certain medications.
What types of gout treatments are available?
If you are experiencing the severe pain associated with gout, see a rheumatologist for a complete evaluation. Gout left untreated can lead to additional attacks, which may worsen with time. There is no cure for the disease, but medications are available both to help prevent gout attacks and to minimize the risk of complications related to attacks.
Is there anything I can do to help prevent gout attacks?
Aside from medications, you can help prevent gout attacks by staying well-hydrated and following a low-purine diet with minimal red meat, seafood, bread and alcohol. Many cases of gout eventually subside on their own, but it is still important to seek medical evaluation by a rheumatologist.
Did you know?
- Gout was nicknamed “the disease of kings” because the rich foods and wines linked to it were once luxuries only royalty could afford.
- The word “gout” comes from gutta, Latin for “a drop” — medieval doctors imagined the illness dripping into the joint, drop by drop.
- Under a microscope, gout crystals are tiny, sharp needles — which goes a long way toward explaining why a flare can make even a bedsheet feel like too much.
Common worries
Why keep taking allopurinol when I have no pain?
Pain-free is when the real work happens: months of low uric acid dissolve the crystal deposits, and only dissolved deposits end flares permanently. Stopping returns the level — and the flares — within months. The pill is not treating today’s pain; it is removing tomorrow’s.
Did I cause this with my diet?
Diet plays a smaller role than genes and kidney handling of uric acid. Most patients cannot diet their way to target — which is why medication exists. Sensible changes (less alcohol, especially beer; fewer sugary drinks) help at the margins and are worth making, but they are partners to treatment, not replacements.
Why check my kidneys and uric acid so often?
The kidneys clear uric acid, so their function shapes both the disease and the drug doses. Uric acid levels are the scoreboard: we titrate treatment to a target (usually below 6 mg/dL) because reaching it is what dissolves crystals and stops flares.
Related Allopurinol · Uloric (febuxostat) · Article: Early signs of a gout flare-up · Request an appointment
What counts as a flare: sudden, severe pain in a joint — often the big toe, mid-foot, ankle, or knee — with redness, swelling, and warmth, frequently starting overnight. It usually peaks within 24 hours.
What to do: start the flare medicine your provider has prescribed for you (this is where colchicine, anti-inflammatories, or a planned steroid course come in) and call us at (361) 400-7700 if you have no flare plan yet, or if there is fever — a hot joint plus fever always needs checking for infection. Rest and ice the joint.
Do not adjust steroids on your own: if a steroid course was prescribed for flares, use exactly that course; do not extend it or borrow doses for the next joint without calling.
What isn’t a flare: gradual joint aching without redness or heat, pain clearly from an injury, or soreness that is identical in both feet after a long day.
Ready to be seen? New patients are seen within 2–4 weeks.