The Agony of an Acute Gout Attack

More than twenty years ago, my family doctor asked me to describe what an acute gout attack felt like.

I told him that the pain was so exquisite, and un-ending, that I had contemplated taking a 12-gauge shotgun out of the cabinet and blowing off my own foot with it.

I never did that insane thing of course, because even in that terrible pain, I knew I would later regret maiming myself. But I still use that story to illustrate how much it hurts to suffer an acute attack of gout.

The symptoms of an bad gout attack are swelling of the affected area, usually with some redness. But the main thing is extreme sensitivity of the skin and agony when you try to move the joint itself.

I have found this unbelievable sensitivity can start the day before the pain switches on properly. So if you have the right gout medications in your house, it is possible to reduce the severity of the attack before it gets even more painful.

And if you are very lucky, you might even stop that gout attack before it incapacitates you.

When I had an acute gout attack one time in my big toe, I couldn't go to work. I just had to lie in bed to rest the foot and have the affacted limb elevated on a pillow. I wasn't even able to drape a light bed sheet over my gouty foot because even the lightest touch - light as a feather - would excite my nerve-endings and create absolute agony.

I'd be confined to bed because the swollen large toe made it impossible to put my foot into any kind of shoe. And walking, or hobbling, was far too painful... even just around the house.

I remember walking like a dog on all-fours to get to and from the toilet. I was using my hands and knees; and that way my gouty foot wouldn't contact the floor. It was that bad.

Some time later, I read someone else's description of the pain of gout. He said the pain from a gout attack was like having somebody stab a large screwdriver into the affected joint between the bones. He said it felt like the screwdriver was being turned and twisted back and forth all day.

I agree with him, and it's the best description of the pain of gout that I've come across.

That's how much it hurts to have an extreme attack of gout.

Next: Cause of Gout