Gout flares: an excruciatingly painful arthritis 

Gout is a rheumatologic condition known for its chronic manifestations and its acute disabling attacks (the ‘flares’) characterized by agonizing pain in the lower limb joints.

A flare typically lasts up to 7-10 days, leaving the patients drained, in fear of a relapse.

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The disease begins with an increase of uric acid in the blood, leading to urate crystals formation in the joints, triggering the first attack. As the disease progresses over the years, the attacks become longer, more painful and more frequent, from 1 up to 5-6 flares per year (1,2). Gout patients describe this unbearable, poorly controlled pain as a “thousand needle poking”, “hurting worse than a bone fracture” and “a pain that no one cares about and that no one will really understand”.