When to Seek Medical Advice:
If you're experience sudden intense pain in your joint, call your doctor. Gout that goes untreated can lead to worsening pain and joint damage.

Seek medical care immediately if you have fever and a joint is hot and inflamed, which can be a sign of infection.

Diagnosing Gout:
Test to help diagnose Gout may include:

Joint Fluid Test::
Your doctor may use a needle to draw fluid from your affected joint. When examined under the microscope, your joint fluid may reveal urate crystals.

Blood Test:
Your doctor may recommend a blood test to measure the level of uric acid level in your blood. Blood test results can be misleading though. Some people have high uric acid levels, but never experience Gout. And some people have sign and symptoms of Gout, but don't have unusual levels of uric acid in their blood.

Complications:
People with Gout can develop more severe conditions, such as:

Recurrent Gout:
Some people may never experience Gout sign & symptoms. But other my experience Gout several time each year. Medication may help prevent Gout attack in people ith recurrent Gout.

Advance Gout:
Untreated Gout may cause deposits of urate crystals to form under the skin in nodules called tophi (TOE-fi). Tophi usually aren't painful, but they can become swollen and tender during Gout attack.

Kidney Stones:
Urate crystal may collect in the urinary tract of people with Gout, causing kidney stones; Medication can help reduce the risk of kidney stones.