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Gout is a common type of inflammatory arthritis. It causes pain, swelling, and redness in one or more joints. It usually happens as a flare, which can last for a week or two and then gets better. The flares often begin in your big toe or a lower limb.

Gout happens when too much uric acid (urate) builds up in your body over a long time. Uric acid is a waste product your body makes when it breaks down purines. Purines are substances that are in your body's tissues and in many foods.

When your body breaks down old cells or digests foods that contain purine, most of the uric acid that's made dissolves in your blood. Your kidneys filter the uric acid out of your blood, and it leaves your body in your urine (pee).

However, sometimes your body can make too much uric acid or does not remove enough of it. Then the uric acid levels build up in your body, including in your blood. Having too much uric acid in the blood is called hyperuricemia. It does not cause health problems for everyone. But in some people, uric acid forms needle-like crystals. They can form in your joints, which causes gout. The crystals can also cause kidney stones.

Calcium pyrophosphate arthritis, sometimes called pseudogout, is a related disease. It causes similar symptoms and is sometimes confused with gout. But it is caused by a buildup of calcium phosphate, not uric acid.

Many people develop gout. You are more likely to get it if you:

• Are male.
• Are older; it usually develops in middle age.
• Have obesity.
• Have certain health conditions, such as:
  • Heart failure
  • High blood pressure
  • Metabolic syndrome
  • Chronic kidney disease
  • Conditions that cause your cells to break down more quickly, such as psoriasis or some cancers
  • Rare genetic conditions that lead to increased uric acid
• Have a family history of gout.
• Have an unhealthy diet and eat foods that are rich in purines, such as red meat, organ meats, certain seafoods.
• Drink alcohol.
• Eat and drink lots of foods and beverages that contain fructose (a type of sugar).
• Take certain medicines, such as diuretics (water pills), low-dose aspirin, and some medicines that weaken your immune system.
• Take high amounts of niacin (vitamin B-3).

Gout usually happens in only one joint at a time. It is often found in the big toe, but can also affect other joints, including your other toes, ankle, and knee.

Gout flares often start suddenly at night, and the symptoms in the affected joint often include:

• Intense pain, which may be bad enough to wake you up
• Swelling
• Redness
• Warmth

The flares typically get better within a week or two. In between flares, you usually don't have symptoms. Some people may have flares often, while others may not have another flare for years. But over time, if left untreated, your flares may happen more often and last longer.

And if gout is untreated over long periods of time, you can develop tophi. Tophi are hard, uric acid deposits under the skin. They start out as painless, but over time, they can become painful. They can also cause bone and soft tissue damage and misshapen joints.

To find out if you have gout, your health care provider:

• Will take your medical history, which includes asking about your symptoms.
• Will do a physical exam, including examining the affected joint(s).
• May order various tests, such as:
  • A test of a sample of fluid from one of your painful joints. The fluid is examined under a microscope and is checked for uric acid crystals.
  • A uric acid blood or urine test.
  • An ultrasound or special CT scan to look for uric acid crystal buildup in the affected joint and check for other conditions that may be causing the symptoms.

There are effective treatments for gout. Which treatment you get will depend on your symptoms and the cause of your gout. The goals of your treatment will be to:

• Reduce the pain from gout flares, by using medicines such as:
  • Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like ibuprofen.
  • Acetaminophen and the anti-inflammatory drug colchicine.
  • Oral or injected corticosteroids.
• Prevent future flares, for example by:
  • Making lifestyle changes such as losing weight, limiting alcohol, and avoiding foods high in purines. If you are taking medicines that can cause high uric acid in the blood, your provider may suggest stopping or changing those medicines.
  • If needed, taking medicines to lower uric acid in the blood.
• Prevent tophi and kidney stones, for example with medicines that lower uric acid in the blood.

With early diagnosis, treatment, and lifestyle changes, gout is one of the most controllable forms of arthritis. Treatment and lifestyle changes may help people avoid gout flares, lessen their symptoms, and sometimes even become gout free.

NIH: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases

Your joints are places where two or more bones come together. Your shoulders, elbows, hips, knees, and knuckles are all joints. Your spine has joints, too.

But joints are more than bones. They include the soft tissues around them, such as cartilage, tendons and ligaments. Cartilage is the hard slippery flexible tissue that covers the ends of your bones at a joint. Tendons are tough, flexible bands that connect your muscles to your bones so you can move your joints. Ligaments connect the bones of the joint to each other to keep them stable when you move.

Joint disorders are diseases or injuries that affect your joints. Injuries can happen because of overuse of a joint. Or you could have a sudden injury, such as an accident or a sports injury.

Many diseases can affect the joints. They often cause joint pain and make your joints stiff, red, or swollen. Most of them are chronic. That means they last a long time. Some may never go away completely. Some of the diseases that affect the joints include:

• Arthritis. Arthritis may cause joint pain and swelling. There are many types of this disease. Osteoarthritis is the most common type. Over time, arthritis can cause severe joint damage. It can affect people of all ages. A joint injury when you're young may cause osteoarthritis later in life.
• Lupus. This autoimmune disease affects many parts of the body and can cause joint and muscle pain. Some types of lupus often cause arthritis.
• Sjögren's Syndrome. This autoimmune disease affects glands that make moisture in many parts of the body. The main symptoms are dry eyes and mouth, but it often causes joint pain, too.

Treatments are different depending on the disease. But most treatments include medicines and therapies to relieve pain and other symptoms.

Joint disorders from sudden injuries include:

• Sprains and strains. Sprains are stretched or torn ligaments. Acute strains are stretched or torn muscles or tendons that happen from a sudden injury or movement, such as lifting a heavy object.
• Dislocated joints. A joint is dislocated when the bones are pushed or pulled out of position. A joint dislocation is a medical emergency.

Treatment depends on the type of injury. You can treat many sports injuries at home. But you should call your health care provider if you:

• Have a lot of joint pain, swelling or numbness
• Can't put weight on the joint
• Have pain from an old injury with more swelling, an unstable joint, or a joint that isn't normal in another way

Overuse injuries usually damage the soft tissues of the joint. They can happen when you work a joint too hard by doing the same movements over and over. For example, you could get an overuse injury from playing a musical instrument, playing sports, or doing certain jobs, such as carpentry or painting.

Joint overuse injuries include:

• Bursitis. The bursa is a small fluid-filled sac. It works as a pad between the bones of a joint and the moving parts around it, such as muscles, tendons and skin. With bursitis, the bursa becomes irritated and swollen with extra fluid. Overuse is the most common cause, but injuries, infections and other conditions, such as arthritis, can cause bursitis.
• Tendinitis. This condition happens when you overuse a tendon. It swells and makes the joint painful to move.
• Chronic strain. A strain becomes chronic when your muscles or tendons stretch or tear slowly over time from repeating the same movements.

The treatments for bursitis, tendinitis, and chronic strain are often the same. They usually include rest, keeping the injured joint higher than your heart, and taking medicine to reduce swelling. Your provider may recommend gentle exercise and other treatment. In some cases, your provider may suggest an injection (a shot) of medicine into the joint. If these do not help, you may need surgery.

Getting enough physical activity is one of the most important things you can do to prevent or slow joint disorders. Activity strengthens the muscles around your joints and helps them work better.

When you play sports, wear the right equipment to protect your joints, such as knee pads. If you already have joint problems, ask your provider what type of activities are best for you.

NIH: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases

Osteoarthritis, sometimes called OA, is a type of arthritis that only affects the joints, usually in the hands, knees, hips, neck, and lower back. It's the most common type of arthritis.

In a healthy joint, the ends of the bones are covered with a smooth, slippery tissue called cartilage. The cartilage pads the bones and helps them glide easily when you move the joint. With osteoarthritis, the cartilage breaks down and becomes rough. Sometimes, all the cartilage wears away and the bones rub together. Bumps of extra bone called bone spurs may grow in the joint area.

There is no cure for osteoarthritis. It usually gets worse slowly. But there's a lot you can do to manage the symptoms.

Osteoarthritis affects people in different ways, and not everyone has pain. The most common symptoms are:

• Pain when you move, which often gets better with rest
• Stiffness, especially for the first 30 minutes after you get up from resting
• Swollen joints, especially after using the joint a lot
• Less movement in the joint than normal
• A joint that feels loose or unstable

Researchers aren't sure what causes osteoarthritis. They think that it could be caused by a combination of factors in the body and the environment. Your chance of developing osteoarthritis increases with age. They also know that some people are more likely to develop it than others.

Things that make you more likely to develop osteoarthritis include:

• Aging. Osteoarthritis can happen at any age, but the chance of getting it increases in middle-aged adults and older. After age 50, it is more common in women than in men.
• Being overweight. Extra weight puts more stress on your joints.
• Having a past injury or surgery on a joint. This is often the cause of osteoarthritis in younger adults.
• Doing a lot of activities that overuse the joint. This includes sports with a lot of jumping, twisting, running, or throwing.
• Having a joint that doesn't line up correctly.
• A family history of osteoarthritis. Some people inherit genetic changes that increase their chance of developing osteoarthritis.

There is no specific test for osteoarthritis. To find out if you have osteoarthritis, your provider:

• Will ask about your symptoms and medical history
• Will do a physical exam
• May use x-rays or other imaging tests to look at your joints
• May order lab tests to make sure that a different problem isn't causing your symptoms

The goal of treating osteoarthritis is to ease your pain, help you move better, and stop it from getting worse.

Treatment usually begins with:

• Exercises to improve strength, flexibility and balance
• Weight loss, if needed, to improve pain, especially in your hips or knees
• Braces or shoe inserts (orthotics) that a health care provider fits for you

You can buy some pain relievers and arthritis creams without a prescription. They can be helpful, but it's best to talk to your provider about using them. If they don't help enough, your provider may prescribe injections (shots) into the joint or prescription pain relievers.

Complementary therapies may help some people. Massage can increase blood flow and bring warmth to the area. Some research shows that acupuncture may help relieve osteoarthritis pain. Simple things like heat and ice can help, too.

If none of these treatments help enough, surgery may be an option. You and your provider can decide if it's right for you.

NIH: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases

If you feel pain and stiffness in your body or have trouble moving around, you might have arthritis. Most kinds of arthritis cause pain and swelling in your joints. Joints are places where two bones meet, such as your elbow or knee. Over time, a swollen joint can become severely damaged. Some kinds of arthritis can also cause problems in your organs, such as your eyes or skin.

Types of arthritis include:

• Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis. It's often related to aging or to an injury.
• Autoimmune arthritis happens when your body's immune system attacks healthy cells in your body by mistake. Rheumatoid arthritis is the most common form of this kind of arthritis.
• Juvenile arthritis is a type of arthritis that happens in children.
• Infectious arthritis is an infection that has spread from another part of the body to the joint.
• Psoriatic arthritis affects people with psoriasis.
• Gout is a painful type of arthritis that happens when too much uric acid builds up in the body. It often starts in the big toe.

NIH: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases

Your immune system protects you from disease and infection by attacking germs that get into your body, such as viruses and bacteria. Your immune system can tell that the germs aren't part of you, so it destroys them. If you have an autoimmune disease, your immune system attacks the healthy cells of your organs and tissues by mistake.

There are more than 80 types of autoimmune diseases. They can affect almost any part of your body. For example, alopecia areata is an autoimmune disease of the skin that causes hair loss. Autoimmune hepatitis affects the liver. In type 1 diabetes, the immune system attacks the pancreas. And in rheumatoid arthritis, the immune system can attack many parts of the body, including the joints, lungs, and eyes.

No one is sure why autoimmune diseases happen. But you can't catch them from other people.

Autoimmune diseases do tend to run in families, which means that certain genes may make some people more likely to develop a problem. Viruses, certain chemicals, and other things in the environment may trigger an autoimmune disease if you already have the genes for it.

Millions of Americans of all ages have autoimmune diseases. Women develop many types of autoimmune diseases much more often than men. And if you have one autoimmune disease, you are more likely to get another.

The symptoms of an autoimmune disease depend on the part of your body that's affected. Many types of autoimmune diseases cause redness, swelling, heat, and pain, which are the signs and symptoms of inflammation. But other illnesses can cause the same symptoms.

The symptoms of autoimmune diseases can come and go. During a flare-up, your symptoms may get severe for a while. Later on, you may have a remission, which means that your symptoms get better or disappear for a period of time.

Doctors often have a hard time diagnosing autoimmune diseases. There's usually not a specific test to show whether you have a certain autoimmune disease. And the symptoms can be confusing. That's because many autoimmune diseases have similar symptoms. And some symptoms, such as muscle aches, are common in many other illnesses. So it can take a long time and some visits to different types of doctors to get a diagnosis.

To help your doctor find out if an autoimmune disease is causing your symptoms,:

• Learn about the health conditions in your family history. What health problems did your grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins have? Write down what you learn and share it with your doctor.
• Keep track of your symptoms, including how long they last and what makes them better or worse. Share your notes with your doctor.
• See a specialist who deals with the symptoms that bother you most. For example, if you have rash, see a dermatologist (skin doctor).

The treatment depends on the disease. In most cases, the goal of treatment is to suppress (slow down) your immune system, and ease swelling, redness, and pain from inflammation. Your doctor may give you corticosteroids or other medicines to help you feel better. For some diseases, you may need treatment for the rest of your life.

Tumors are abnormal growths in your body. They can be either benign or malignant. Benign tumors aren't cancer. Malignant ones are. Benign tumors grow only in one place. They cannot spread or invade other parts of your body. Even so, they can be dangerous if they press on vital organs, such as your brain.

Tumors are made up of extra cells. Normally, cells grow and divide to form new cells as your body needs them. When cells grow old, they die, and new cells take their place. Sometimes, this process goes wrong. New cells form when your body does not need them, and old cells do not die when they should. These extra cells can divide without stopping and may form tumor.

Treatment often involves surgery. Benign tumors usually don't grow back.

NIH: National Cancer Institute

A biopsy is a procedure that removes cells or tissue from your body. A doctor called a pathologist looks at the cells or tissue under a microscope to check for damage or disease. The pathologist may also do other tests on it.

Biopsies can be done on all parts of the body. In most cases, a biopsy is the only test that can tell for sure if a suspicious area is cancer. But biopsies are performed for many other reasons too.

There are different types of biopsies. A needle biopsy removes tissue with a needle passed through your skin to the site of the problem. Other kinds of biopsies may require surgery.

Your connective tissue supports many different parts of your body, such as your skin, eyes, and heart. It is like a "cellular glue" that gives your body parts their shape and helps keep them strong. It also helps some of your tissues do their work. It is made of many kinds of proteins. Cartilage and fat are types of connective tissue.

Over 200 disorders that impact connective tissue. There are different types:

• Genetic disorders, such as Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, Marfan syndrome, and osteogenesis imperfecta
• Autoimmune disorders, such as lupus and scleroderma
• Cancers, like some types of soft tissue sarcoma

Each disorder has its own symptoms and needs different treatment.

NIH: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases

If you have ever had athlete's foot or a yeast infection, you can blame a fungus. A fungus is a primitive organism. Mushrooms, mold and mildew are examples. Fungi live in air, in soil, on plants and in water. Some live in the human body. Only about half of all types of fungi are harmful.

Some fungi reproduce through tiny spores in the air. You can inhale the spores or they can land on you. As a result, fungal infections often start in the lungs or on the skin. You are more likely to get a fungal infection if you have a weakened immune system or take antibiotics.

Fungi can be difficult to kill. For skin and nail infections, you can apply medicine directly to the infected area. Oral antifungal medicines are also available for serious infections.

Hemochromatosis is a disease in which too much iron builds up in your body. Your body needs iron but too much of it is toxic. If you have hemochromatosis, you absorb more iron than you need. Your body has no natural way to get rid of the extra iron. It stores it in body tissues, especially the liver, heart, and pancreas. The extra iron can damage your organs. Without treatment, it can cause your organs to fail.

There are two types of hemochromatosis. Primary hemochromatosis is an inherited disease. Secondary hemochromatosis is usually the result of something else, such as anemia, thalassemia, liver disease, or blood transfusions.

Many symptoms of hemochromatosis are similar to those of other diseases. Not everyone has symptoms. If you do, you may have joint pain, fatigue, general weakness, weight loss, and stomach pain.

Your doctor will diagnose hemochromatosis based on your medical and family histories, a physical exam, and the results from tests and procedures. Treatments include removing blood (and iron) from your body, medicines, and changes in your diet.

NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute