| A gout attack usually occurs after a number years of buildup of uric acid crystals. | |
 |
A gout attack often occurs at night. Pain may be so intense that even light touch from a bed sheet is intolerable. Pain lasts for a few hours of the night and then eases during the next few days. |
 |
As the gout attack subsides, the skin around the affected joint may peel and produce itching. |
 |
|
| Gout may progress to chronic gout without episodes of acute gout attack. | |
 |
It is particularly difficult to distinguish chronic gout in old people from other types of arthritis (rheumatoid or degenerative arthritis). |
