Can you get gout in your hands

Self-management strategies, such as changes to the diet and lifestyle, can also help reduce the severity and frequency of flares. For example, people can adopt a gout-friendly diet , get regular exercise, and maintain a moderate weight. Learn more about home remedies for gout. Other conditions may also cause a person to experience pain and swelling in joints, such as the hands. For example, many people often confuse gout with calcium pyrophosphate deposition disease, or pseudogout.

While both are forms of arthritis, they result from the buildup of different crystals in the joints. It is possible to mistake other types of arthritis, such as psoriatic arthritis PsA , osteoarthritis OA , and rheumatoid arthritis RA , for gout due to the similarity in their symptoms.

Joint pain and swelling can also be due to an infection of the joint tissue and fluids, which is called septic arthritis.

In some cases, different types of arthritis may occur together. Evidence shows that it is possible to have more than one type of arthritis and that gout can occur alongside PsA, OA, or RA. Anyone who suspects that they may have gout should contact a doctor for a diagnosis. Other conditions that may cause similar symptoms will also likely require treatment. Gout and other forms of arthritis that go untreated can cause joint damage.

People with a diagnosis of gout should attend regular appointments with a doctor. During these, they should mention any worsening of symptoms, new symptoms, or concerns about other conditions that may occur alongside gout. Gout is a common form of arthritis that causes severe pain and swelling in one or more joints. It occurs due to high levels of uric acid in the blood, which form needle-like crystals in joints and soft tissue. Although gout usually begins in the big toe, it can target other joints, such as the fingers and hands.

Gout is a very painful condition, but it is manageable with medications and self-management strategies. If a person suspects gout or notices a worsening of gout symptoms, it is advisable for them to contact a doctor. Gout can cause extreme, sudden pain, usually in the big toe. Find out more about gout, its symptoms, causes, treatments, and recovery outlooks here. Gout in the big toe can be painful. Learn more about how to identify gout, how to ease the pain, and a person should seek help, here.

Read more here about symptoms of pseudogout. When the protective cartilage between the bones in your thumb wear down, this form of arthritis called osteoarthritis can also cause pain in your thumb joints. Thumb osteoarthritis usually causes a characteristic cracking or clicking sound as the bones move against each other.

Making matters more confusing, there is a chance you could experience gout and another form of arthritis at the same time.

There is also overlap between osteoarthritis and gout; research suggests that joints affected by osteoarthritis may be more prone to develop gout. A study in the Annals of Rheumatic Disease found that psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis are associated with having an increased risk of developing gout. Rest assured, your doctor can help identify what is causing your thumb pain with imaging, blood tests, and by checking if fluid in your inflamed joint has the telltale uric crystals that signal gout.

Another telltale sign that your thumb pain is from gout is the presence of tophi — hard bumps right under the skin that can be small but also grow large and become very noticeable. Tophi are deposits of uric acid crystals that form under the skin in nodules.

When tophi develop in your hand, the nodules can appear at any joint in your fingers or thumb. Gout tophi are not usually painful but can feel tender during a gout flare, according to the Mayo Clinic. Gout tophi usually take time to develop and can become visible after a person has had gout for many years, as noted in MedlinePlus. When you see a primary care physician or rheumatologist for suspected gout in your thumb, your doctor will examine any bumps that could be tophi deposits.

They may also X-ray your thumb and draw fluid from the site of the pain to look for uric acid crystals. You may get your blood drawn to measure your uric acid levels and to check for infection. Be prepared to share all of your symptoms, as well as your medical history and any medications you are taking, advises the American Society for Surgery of the Hand.

Surgery is not commonly indicated for gout in thumb; however, a surgeon may very rarely need to be consulted in cases where gout in thumb is not treated, because the inflammation can wear joints down and cause damage to tendons. While inflammation-fighting drugs NSAIDs, colchicine, and glucocorticoids are used to relieve pain during gout flares, different medicines are used to lower uric acid levels to prevent future attacks.

These include:. Another medication called pegloticase Krystexxa may be recommended for people with chronic gout who have not responded to other uric acid-lowering medication.

Allopurinol is the preferred first-line agent for urate-lowering treatment according to recommendations outlined in the American College of Rheumatology Guideline for the Management of Gout.

For people who experience recurrent gout attacks, Dr. Fields recommends a low-purine diet. This limits alcohol, red meat, organ meats such as liver, shellfish, and high-fructose corn syrup as in regularly sweetened sodas. Since gout in the thumb typically occurs later in the course of disease and is not the first sign of gout, it can be easily avoided if people seek medical attention for recurrent gout and adhere to their treatment, says Dr.

Check out PainSpot, our pain locator tool. Answer a few simple questions about what hurts and discover possible conditions that could be causing it. Start your PainSpot quiz. Cleveland Clinic. January 7, Chen-Xu M, et al. January Chhana A, et al. July Chiou A, et al. May Your GP may suspect gout based on your symptoms.

Sometimes further tests will be needed to confirm the diagnosis and rule out other possible causes. See your GP if you experience symptoms of gout for the first time. Your GP will ask about your symptoms and medical history, and examine the affected area, to help make a diagnosis. They may also ask you about your diet, particularly your intake of beer, spirits and foods high in purines, such as red meat and seafood.

Your GP may be unable to make a firm diagnosis straight away and you may be referred for further tests. These will either confirm the diagnosis of gout or rule out other conditions. A sample of fluid may be taken from the affected joint. The fluid can be checked for the small crystals that cause gout, and it can be tested for infection to rule out septic arthritis. A blood test known as a serum uric acid test may be used to measure the amount of uric acid in your blood.

A high level or uric acid is often associated with gout. This is because the level of uric acid in your blood can drop when uric acid crystals form in the joints. An X-ray is rarely used to diagnose gout because the condition isn't usually detectable using this method. However, an X-ray is sometimes used to help rule out similar conditions that affect the joints, such as chondrocalcinosis a build-up of calcium crystals in the joints or to assess whether there has been any joint damage due to repeated or persistent attacks of gout.

An ultrasound scan of an affected joint is a simple and safe investigation that's increasingly used to detect crystals in the joints. It can also detect crystals deep in the skin that aren't obvious during a physical examination. Treatment for gout includes pain relief to help you cope with a gout attack, as well as medication and lifestyle changes to prevent further attacks. Apply the ice pack to your joint for around 20 minutes. Don't apply ice directly to your skin and don't apply it for more than 20 minutes at a time because this could damage the skin.

If necessary, you can keep reapplying an ice pack to your skin during an attack, but you should wait until your skin has returned to a normal temperature first. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs NSAIDs are usually recommended as the first treatment for gout.

They work by reducing pain and inflammation during an attack. If you've been prescribed NSAIDs, it's a good idea to have them with you at all times so you can use them at the first sign of a gout attack. Continue to take your medication throughout the attack and for 48 hours afterwards. This reduces the risk of the NSAID causing indigestion , stomach ulcers and bleeding from the stomach.

It's best to have it with you at all times so you can use it at the first sign of a gout attack. Your GP will tell you how long to take it for and how often. When taken in high doses, side effects of colchicine include feeling sick, abdominal tummy pain and diarrhoea. Corticosteroids are sometimes used to treat severe cases of gout if other treatments don't work or you're unable to take an NSAID or colchicine.

A short course of steroid tablets often provides relief, but they can't be used long-term in high doses as they cause side effects, including:. Corticosteroids can also be given by injection to provide rapid pain relief. This can be either into a muscle, a vein or directly into the affected joint. You can reduce your chances of having further gout attacks by taking medication and making lifestyle changes to reduce the level of uric acid in your body. Medication to reduce uric acid levels — known as urate-lowering therapy ULT — is usually recommended if you have recurrent attacks of gout or you have complications of gout.

Most people with gout will eventually need to have ULT, so you may want to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this treatment with your doctor as soon as you've been diagnosed with gout. They should explain that while ULT can significantly reduce your risk of having further attacks, the medication needs to be taken on a daily basis for the rest of your life and there's a small risk of side effects. If you decide to start ULT, a medicine called allopurinol is usually tried first.

If this isn't suitable or doesn't work, other medications may be used instead. These medications are described below. Allopurinol helps reduce the production of uric acid. It can help prevent gout attacks, although it won't help relieve symptoms during an attack. Allopurinol is a tablet taken once a day. When you first start taking it, your dose will be adjusted to make sure the level of uric acid in your blood is low enough. Regular blood tests will be needed to monitor this until the most effective dose is found.

Allopurinol can sometimes cause a gout attack soon after you start taking it and it can take up to a year or two before no further attacks occur. It's important to persevere with treatment even if you do have attacks during this time. To help relieve attacks, your doctor will prescribe one of the pain relieving medications described above to take alongside your allopurinol at first. Most people taking allopurinol won't experience any significant side effects. However, side effects can include:.

Blood tests determine uric-acid levels, while also checking for other infections. Although most people who develop gout attacks will have elevated blood uric acid levels, this is not found in all gout sufferers. How Is Gout in the Hand Treated? New cases — in particular if episodes are infrequent — are typically treated with a round of general non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, or a specific medication called colchicine.

Steroids, either in pill or shot form, may also be required as the doctor works to decrease pain, swelling and redness. Patients are encouraged to get more regular exercise, and perhaps to lose weight.

In many cases, dietary restrictions are recommended — and those changes are often sufficient for those with only mildly elevated levels of uric acid.