Imagine waking up in the middle of the night with excruciating pain in your big toe. The skin over the first joint of the big toe is hot, shiny and red or purplish in colour.
The pain is so intense that you cannot handle the blanket resting on your foot. Early in the morning you see your doctor and are told that it is gout, which is an acute arthritic condition. Then you get sent home with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID), you have been told that the condition most likely will reoccur. Features in the main article is what to do...