Gout

For a lay person:

Gout is a type of arthritis caused by crystals of uric acid forming in a joint. It causes sudden, very painful attacks of a red, hot, swollen joint, most often the big toe.

For a trained medical person:

Monosodium urate crystal deposition associated with hyperuricaemia. Acute flares are treated with NSAIDs, colchicine or corticosteroids; recurrent gout needs urate-lowering therapy (allopurinol, febuxostat) to a target serum urate.

In Chinese medicine:

Flaws and Sionneau's textbook differentiates this condition into these patterns: Wind damp cold bi and blood stasis; Wind damp heat bi and blood stasis; Qi and Blood Stagnation; Turbid dampness pouring downward and blood stasis; Phlegm and stasis obstructing network vessels; Liver and Kidney Yin Deficiency. Treatment follows the pattern a patient presents with, not the Western diagnosis alone.

When to get help: See a doctor for a hot swollen joint with fever, which can be a joint infection.