How can you treat gout in the ankle?

Gout is a form of inflammatory arthritis that can cause pain and typically involves your big toe. Still, gout may occur in any joint of the body, including your ankle. Gout occurs when your body has high levels of uric acid. This forms sharp crystals that cause swelling, tenderness, and pain in the affected joint.

Gout in the ankle can make everyday movements and tasks, such as walking down or up the stairs, difficult and painful. Various treatment options and methods can manage and prevent the flare-up of gout symptoms.

Symptoms

The symptoms of gout in the ankle may include:

• severe pain in one or more joints
• tenderness in the joint
• heat in the joint
• swelling around the affected joint
• red, shiny skin over the joint

These symptoms typically develop quickly over a few hours, and they may last between 3–10 days.

Causes

An excess of uric acid in your bloodstream may cause gout. When uric acid builds up in the body, it can form crystals that affect the joints, causing pain and swelling.

The cells in the human body and certain types of food contain substances called purines. The human body converts purines into uric acid when they break these substances down. It then travels around the body through the bloodstream in the form of a salt called urate.

People with gout typically have high levels of urate in their blood as they do not get rid of the excess in their urine. But people may also have high levels of urate for various other reasons such as:

• diet
• symptoms of certain health conditions, such as diabetes
• stress
• side effects of some medications

In some rare cases, gout may be genetic. People with certain inherited genetic disorders may produce too much uric acid in the first place. This leads to the formation of crystals in the joints and under the skin, which can also cause deformity, as the body cannot cope with the overload of uric acid.

Treatment

Various treatment options available for gout may help improve your symptoms. This can include:

• Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs): These medications help relieve pain and reduce inflammation. NSAIDs for gout in the ankle include medications such as naproxen (Aleve), diclofenac (Cataflam), and etoricoxib (Arcoxia).
• Colchicine (Colcrys): Doctors may prescribe colchicine when NSAIDs are not suitable as a treatment option.
• Corticosteroids: These are for treating gout for short periods of time when NSAIDs and colchicine do not improve gout symptoms. Examples include prednisone (Prelone) and dexamethasone (Decadron).
• Urate-lowering therapy (ULT): This treatment option aims to reduce uric acid levels in the body.

There are other things that may help you manage gout symptoms, such as:

• resting the aching joint
• applying cold packs
• using a cane when walking to relieve pressure from the ankle
• elevate your foot
• drinking lots of fluids

If left untreated, gout flare-ups may occur more frequently. Doctors can recommend the most appropriate treatment for gout.

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Risk factors

There are some factors that may increase your risk of developing gout, which include:

• having overweight
• being born male at birth
• taking certain medications, such as diuretics
• drinking great quantities of alcohol
• eating or drinking foods containing high levels of fructose
• having a diet high in purines, including foods such as:
  • red meat
  • organ meat
  • sardines
  • scallops

People with certain health conditions may also have an increased risk of gout. This can include:

• high blood pressure (hypertension)
• diabetes
• congestive heart failure
• kidney disease or poor kidney function
• insulin resistance
• metabolic syndrome

How can gout be prevented?

There are some things you can do that may help prevent gout. This may include:

• quitting smoking, if necessary
• maintaining a moderate weight
• eating a healthy balanced diet
• drinking plenty of fluids
• regularly doing physical exercise
• avoiding regularly drinking alcohol

If you have gout you should avoid doing any of the following:

• drinking lots of sugary drinks
• eating great quantities of fatty foods
• eating lots of sugary snacks
• regularly drinking alcohol every day or drinking great quantities of alcohol in a short period of time

A doctor can provide recommendations on how you can prevent gout flare-ups from happening frequently.

They may also recommend avoiding certain types of purine-rich food, such as red meat, or drinking certain types of alcoholic beverages, like beer and fortified wine.

Summary

Gout is a type of inflammatory arthritis that can cause joint inflammation, pain, and swelling.

Gout typically occurs in the big toe, but it can occur in any joint, including the ankle.

The condition generally occurs when a person has high levels of uric acid in their body, which forms sharp crystals in the joints.

Several treatment options for managing and preventing gout flare-ups may help, such as medications.

People may also help prevent gout by doing the following:

• reducing consumption of high purine foods
• reducing alcohol consumption, if necessary
• drinking plenty of liquids
• eating a healthy and balanced diet
• maintaining a moderate body weight
• avoiding smoking

If you find that gout symptoms are affecting your day-to-day life, consider speaking with a healthcare professional. They can work with you to put together a suitable treatment plan.

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