1. Understand Chronic Gout
Since gout affects the joints directly, many people look for symptoms related exclusively to inflammation and pain in those areas. The truth is that gout can also produce other symptoms that might confuse those without a clear understanding of the disease. A common symptom of goat is a high temperature, which is sometimes accompanied of a general feeling of discomfort and pain. Some people also experience chills and can feel faint or weak.
Chronic gout often results in the formation of small lumps under the skin, which are caused by the accumulation of crystallized uric acid. These whitish nodules can appear almost anywhere in the body (not only near joints) so it's important to be in the lookout for them as a symptom of chronic gout.
2. Don't Confuse Chronic Gout With Acute Gout
The acute form of gout produces serious attacks in which the joints develop inflammation and cause serious pain, tenderness and swelling. The attacks are often far apart from each other, with sometimes months in between them. Chronic gout, on the other hand, is more similar to arthritis, where the joints become tender and lose flexibility. While people with chronic gout can sometimes have acute attacks, more often than not the feeling is rather stable and the symptoms tend to be milder and easier to treat. As with acute gout, however, pain tends to be stronger at night and it can affect any joint, although the feet (and especially the big toe) are more commonly affected.
3. Watch Your Health
The best way to spot symptoms of chronic gout is to start paying attention to your body as soon as you are diagnosed with hyperuricemia (high levels of uric acid). Since gout affects only a small percentage of people with hyperuricemia, it's important that you look to other factors that may increase your chances of developing the problem. Obesity, chronic kidney disease, high-protein diets, hypothyroidism and heavy alcohol consumption all increase the chances of developing chronic gout on people who are already suffering from high levels of uric acid.
You can decrease your chances of developing this disease if you improve your lifestyle and make changes as soon as you're diagnosed with hyperuricemia or at least when symptoms of inflammation and joint pain first show up.
