The uric acid crystals that cause gout will have been building up in your joints for years before they cause your first actual attack of gout. You may not even realize that the aches and pains are not just normal aging pains until you have a full blown gout attack.

The most common types of symptoms that a person will suffer from when they have gout are as follows:-

1.When someone touches your joint (usually your big toe) it will feel warm and very tender to the touch. The toe joint will normally be inflamed and painful.

2. Sometimes the pain can begin during the night and it can become extremely intense so that even the lightest pressure placed upon (including just a sheet covering it) can be intolerable to some people.

3.Some gout sufferers will have an attack that comes on quickly and lasts many hours. After the initial pain, which can be very intense, the level drops over the next 2 days to a week.

4. After your attack of gout has started to subside you may find that the skin around the inflamed joint will feel itchy and it may even begin to peel.

The above are just some of the symptoms that people with gout may have. Not everyone who suffers with the above will have gout and not every gout sufferer will suffer with all (or any) of these symptoms.

The most common part of the human body where a person is likely to experience gout is the big toe joint. However, some people may develop gout in other joints in their bodies including their feet, ankles, knees, wrists, fingers as well as their elbows.

In a large number of cases a person often suffers from gout symptoms following an illness or after undergoing surgery and these attacks although painful are short lived. However for those who suffer from chronic gout the attacks are far less painful and in some cases may be diagnosed incorrectly. In some cases especially in older people the gout can actually be confused as being some form or arthritis instead. In fact a chronic gout sufferer is unlikely to suffer from the symptoms very closely associated with acute gout.

When a person starts to display any of the symptoms we have mentioned here it is vital to get them to see a Dr. Some people will dismiss the pain as a temporary discomfort, however without proper medication it will come back worse the next time.