My ankle is inexplicably swollen and painful

Sometimes, your ankle was fine yesterday, but when you woke up you found that it was swollen and very painful. This phenomenon is definitely abnormal. If your foot is swollen without being injured, it is very likely caused by a disease, the most likely of which is gout. Speaking of gout, everyone may have heard of it. Gout is a disease that is difficult to treat and is also very harmful to the human body.

If your ankle is swollen and painful, it is very likely caused by gout. Gout is a very common disease. It is very harmful to the patient's body. After suffering from this disease, you need to receive timely treatment. Otherwise, if the gout becomes serious, it will cause a variety of diseases. The treatment of such diseases is also very complicated. Many people do not understand whether the sudden swelling and pain in the ankle is caused by gout. If you have such questions, you can consult. The following is a detailed introduction.

Can sudden swelling and pain in the ankle be caused by gout?

Typical symptoms of a gout attack

The typical location of gout attacks is the metatarsophalangeal joint of the big toe. If the metatarsophalangeal joint of the big toe is red, swollen, hot and painful, or there are obvious tophi, it is easier to diagnose. However, gout can also occur on the dorsum of the foot, lateral malleolus, posterior heel, or the entire ankle joint, and pain in these areas is less difficult to diagnose.

Gout Diagnosis Test Methods

The preliminary diagnosis of gout can be obtained from medical history, existing diseases, clinical examination, and joint fluid sampling. Drug treatment can also help with the diagnosis. X-rays can rule out some diseases, and blood tests can tell you the uric acid level. However, not all patients with high blood uric acid levels have symptoms of gout, but about 15% of them will suffer from gout attacks. However, when gout attacks, the blood uric acid level is not necessarily high. At this time, the diagnosis can only be confirmed if chylous sodium urate crystals are found in the affected area.

After understanding whether sudden swelling and pain in the ankle is caused by gout, when this happens to you, you should first undergo a physical examination so that you can have a good understanding of your specific situation and choose the correct method during treatment so that there will be no harm to your body. This is something patients also need to understand.