Joint pain, warmth, swelling, and skin redness- these symptoms will remind you of gout. This condition results from the deposits of uric acid crystals in your joint. But, have you ever felt pain in your neck and shoulder? You have felt that it is normal for everyone. However, it may also indicate gout in neck.
Can you get gout in your neck?
Most of us do not know that gout symptoms can become prominent in our neck and shoulders. Neck and back pain are the result of spinal gout. To diagnose spinal gout, physicians will try to identify the presence of urate crystals in your tissue.
How do you know that you have neck gout?
Gout attacks may happen suddenly. Your neck and shoulder pain will be severe and unbearable. You will find some parts becoming –
- Swollen
- Red
- Stiff
- Hot
- Highly sensitive to movement and touch
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What causes gout in your neck and shoulders?
A high level of uric acid in the bloodstream can trigger conditions like gout. Your joints and tissues slowly accumulate the needle-shaped crystals, and it is known as hyperuricemia.
Uric acid is formed due to the purines breakdown, and these purines are chemical compounds in your body. However, some foods you take daily also contain purines, which increase the uric acid level.
The crystals produced from this uric acid affect your immune system. Infection-fighting cells react with crystals and cause inflammation.
Thus, you must control the uric acid level to avoid neck pain.
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Is there a high chance of having neck gout?
Neck pain and back pain are very common issues of individuals. However, several patients with this pain have a high level of uric acid. This condition indicates a risk of gout. Interestingly, spinal gout does not always show clear symptoms. In some cases, transplant patients who regularly take organ-rejection medications (like cyclosporine) have a risk of spinal gout.
Researchers have tried to have a close analysis of the photos of the spine using advanced imaging technology. They have noticed gout in some odd and unanticipated spots. The imaging technology also gives a view of the clumps of uric acid along the spine.
Patients with neck gout/spinal gout have a history of gout in some other parts of the body. Gout mostly attacks the big toe with other places, like fingers and knees. Gout patients have claimed that the condition is very painful, and they cannot put on their shoes comfortably.
Over time, gout may travel to different joints. When the patient has left gout untreated for 10 to 20 years, he may have this issue with his wrists, fingers, lumber, and cervical joints. In a few cases, gout may also attack the hip.
Spinal gout may affect the spinal structure, especially laminae, facet joints, pedicles, vertebral bodies, and the soft tissues near the spinal column.
Thus, you must not leave the gout symptoms untreated. When you feel pain in the neck, shoulder, and other parts, you have to contact physicians.
What will you do when gout symptoms appear?
Sudden severe pain is the most common gout symptom. When you suspect your first gout attack, it is better to go to a clinic. Autoimmune inflammatory arthritis and joint infections also cause similar symptoms. That is why your healthcare provider will do some tests to diagnose gout.
By taking a small amount of fluid from the affected part, it will help in checking the uric acid crystals, one of the major causes of gout. However, blood tests may also be effective in confirming the condition.
Early warning signs before the attack are sensitive and swollen parts. The skin will have a red-purple hue. Within a week, pain from gout will subside. But, you must consult a doctor for treatment.
Patients overlook spinal gout
Patients mistakenly think of back pain and neck pain as something else. However, they need medication to reduce the uric acid level. They think that the pain is for osteoarthritis. Proper imaging and other tests will help in making the decision.
Gout in the neck is rare. Still, you must be suspicious when you have neck pain and shoulder pain. Patients using diuretics have a higher risk of uric acid and gout.
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