Gout is an inflammatory condition caused by the buildup of uric acid crystals in joints that is characterized by severe joint pain. The pain in the toe is the common symptom of gout but that cannot be regarded as the universal gout symptom. Many patients have reported pain in multiple joints, and the toe is not necessarily an affected joint as per the reports.
The similarities of the symptoms of gout and that of other diseases often lead to gout being misdiagnosed to be some other disease or vice versa. Delay of the ideal treatment due to the misdiagnosis puts the patient’s health at stake.
Here is a list of some of the diseases that are wrongly diagnosed as gout.
Pseudogout
The symptoms of gout and pseudogout are similar but the diseases are not the same. Both diseases are caused by the deposition of crystals in joints but the type of crystal deposited varies in the two. Excess uric levels in the blood leads to the deposition of urate crystals in gout patients while it is calcium phosphorylate crystals that are deposited in the case of pseudogout.
Septic Arthritis
A swollen joint that looks red might be the symptom of gout or septic arthritis. The confusion does not end there. Both gout as well as septic arthritis can cause a rise in the count of white blood cells and fever. It is only in the case of septic arthritis that an actual infection is present even though your body perceives it as an infection regardless of it being gout or septic arthritis.
Rheumatoid Arthritis
In patients with polyarticular arthritis, multiple joints are affected and the rheumatoid arthritis condition is often misdiagnosed as gout. In the advanced stages, both Rheumatoid arthritis as well as gout causes the development of visible nodules but the nodules in gout are caused by deposition of urate crystals whereas the cause of nodule formation in RA patients remains unknown. If you live in LA, you may visit the LA rheumatology clinic to diagnose the disease at the earliest, with the assistance of experienced doctors.
Cellulitis
If you experience fever and chills, with an area of your skin probably in your lower leg, appearing red and is painful to touch, you might be suffering from cellulitis or gout. Cellulitis is caused by the entry of bacteria through a crack or cut on the skin surface.
It is difficult to conclude whether you have gout or cellulitis merely by a physical examination. Extracting fluid to test for gout if you have cellulitis is a bad idea because there is a high chance for the infection to spread further.
Similar to the above conditions being misdiagnosed as gout, gout too can be mistakenly diagnosed to be any one of the discussed medical conditions. Before you start the medication, you have to be confident about the accuracy of the medical diagnosis.