The symptom of gout start appearing after deposition in the joints increases beyond a certain limit. Gout is among the several types of arthritis, which cause pain in the joints. Therefore, it is not easy to distinguish between the external symptoms of gout and the other forms of arthritis. Some of the symptoms of gout are given below. Even though, not very precisely, they are useful for identification of gout.
The earlier stages of gout, when the deposits in joints are less, do not show any symptoms. However, with time the deposit goes on increasing. When the limit of deposition is crossed, the patient will experience the symptoms. The symptoms of gout usually occur all of a sudden in the form of an attack. During an attack, the patient experiences a very severe pain in the joint. The pain arises due to inflammation, which also swells up the tissues in the joints. This swelling of the tissues increases so much that the whole part becomes swollen. Thus, the swelling can be identified externally as well.
Along with swelling in the joints, the symptoms of gout will also involve redness in the affected joints. The skin above the joints becomes red and therefore it can be easily recognized. In addition to pain, the patient will also experience warmth in the affected joint. Moreover, the patient will experience irritation whenever he will try to move the affected joint.
The above-mentioned symptoms of gout are the symptoms, which occur during the normal gout attack. However sometimes complication develop in the affected joint. One of the common complications, which can occur in the affected joints, is development tophi. Tophi are an accumulation of uric acid crystals in the affected joints. Cartilages are the parts in which the deposition usually occurs.
In case tophi are formed in the cartilages, the whole cartilage becomes hard and loses its softness and flexibility. The cartilages can break or damaged easily, in such a condition. The cartilages are among the important parts of the body and if any damage occurs to them, the whole joint becomes deformed. This can be observed externally as well as the any change in the shape of the joint also affects the look of the entire part in which it is present.
Apart from development of tophi, some symptoms may arise in the other parts of the body as well. For example, in some cases the patient may develop kidney stones or urate deposits in the other parts as well. These though are not the symptoms of gout frequently occur in association with gout and therefore are useful for identifying it.
