Tophi gout can be mistaken for normal gout, but it is actually a form of complicated gout. In fact, they are almost very similar in manifestation and the symptoms and causes are almost the same. So tophi gout is another form of gout in itself. Tophi gout usually occurs about 5 to 10 years after an individual has experienced the onset of gout, and it affects the toes and fingers, the knees and other major joints of the body.
The tophi gout is caused primarily by excess uric acid in the body, which crystallizes to cause pains and swellings in the affected parts. Tophi gout starts in the affected region when the liver and the kidneys cannot effectively process the uric acids in the body for elimination, so the acid becomes very much in the body and the resultant effect is that it is passed out through urine in the individual.
When the body’s white blood cells fights the uric acid crystals, there is inflammation, which could become red, swollen and very painful. Now, it must be stated here that most often than not, tophi gout is not usually pain so painful when it just starts. In fact, it looks so harmless and like some little mumps that would soon pass away. It could appear on the phalanges of the fingers like little mumps, which are very harmless, but they should not be taken as harmless. You must visit the hospital to have the little ‘mumps’ examined and diagnosed, and when they are found to be tophi gout, then you must treat them accordingly. If you do not treat it in time, the little ‘mumps’ would trigger the production of more uric acid in the body and these would crystallize faster than usual because they have a trigger in the little harmless nodules. This could be very dangerous for your health and body, because by the time they become fully crystallized, the gout would become as painful as to be untreatable with dire health consequences.
Do not forget that tophi gout occurs because of badly managed gout in the time past; which means that the uric acid in the blood has not been well managed or reduced to forestall a reoccurrence. In that case, the tophi gout could easily disfigure the fingers of the hands and disfigure the toes of the feet or even the elbows and knees. So you must bear in mind that when you gout and you get it treated as to obtain a cure, there can be a worse relapse several years later if the uric acid levels in the body is not drastically reduced and this could easily lead to tophi gout which is usually worse, disfiguring and disabling.
You can only manage your gout by strictly following doctors’ orders on dieting, taking your prescribed medications, eating many cherries, drinking lots of water, and also exercising in a regular regime. The more disciplined you are to observe these among other things, you more likely you are to overcome the incidence of gout and tophi gout once and forever.