While gout can strike in any joint, it most commonly affects the big toe. And the symptoms of gout — pain, inflammation, and redness — can be the same as those of a painful bunion. Curran says. If your doctor suspects your bunion could actually be gout, they will order tests that can help distinguish between the two conditions, including X-rays and a blood test to measure the levels of uric acid in your blood.
You may also be asked about your diet, since people who consume large amounts of purines — found in shellfish, leafy greens, and red meat — are more prone to developing gout your body converts purines into uric acid. People with poor kidney function are also more vulnerable to gout because their kidneys may not be excreting extra uric acid in the urine.
Learn more about how arthritis affects your kidneys. Treatment of bunions is usually pretty simple. Your doctor may recommend wearing roomier shoes with inserts; padding, taping, or splinting the toes; icing the toe; and taking OTC pain medication. Managing gout, on the other hand, generally requires prescription medication to lower levels of uric acid, though OTC non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs NSAIDs are sometimes recommended for acute gout attacks.
The prescription drug colchicine is used to treat acute attacks, while drugs called xanthine oxidase inhibitors such as allopurinol can help prevent future gout flares by lowering the level of uric acid in your blood. Like gout, rheumatoid arthritis RA is a form of inflammatory arthritis that can affect the big toe. In fact, RA often starts in the small joints in the hands and feet, so pain and stiffness in the toes may be one of the first signs a person has rheumatoid arthritis.
People with RA are more prone to developing bunions due to the toll that inflammation takes on the joints. Erosion of the joints in the toes can cause them to shift and dislocate, causing bunions to form. Here is more information about how psoriatic arthritis affects the feet. If rheumatoid arthritis is responsible for your toe pain and bunions, a combination of medication and lifestyle changes can help. Losing weight if you need to and wearing customized insoles or orthotics can help ease pressure on your feet, while ice, OTC or prescription NSAIDs, and steroid shots relieve pain.
Rheumatoid arthritis is treated with disease-modifying drugs, such as disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs DMARDs like methotrexate or biologics to slow progression of RA and prevent future joint damage. If your bunion symptoms are severe, your doctor may recommend surgery to remove it.
This form of arthritis, which can be caused by years of wear and tear on a joint or an injury to the joint, can also affect the big toe. As the cartilage erodes, the bones in the joint rub together, causing pain and stiffness. In some cases, patients develop a bump at the base of the big toe called a bone spur extra bone growth than may resemble a bunion. Share on: Facebook Twitter. Show references Bunions.
American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Accessed Aug. American Podiatric Medical Association. Ferrari J. Hallux valgus deformity bunion. Azar FM, et al. Disorders of the hallux: Hallux valgus bunion. In: Campbell's Operative Orthopaedics. Elsevier; Ellman MG expert opinion. Mayo Clinic.
Bunion surgery. Chou, LB, ed. It is not unusual for people with big toe pain, swelling , and redness to assume that they have a bunion. Often, what people self-diagnose as a bunion turns out to be another ailment. One of the conditions that people mistake for a bunion is gout , perhaps because gout does not have the top-of-mind awareness that other big toe pain-causing conditions — such as osteoarthritis and bursitis — have. There are some similarities between the symptoms of gout and bunions that might lead you to think you have one when you actually have the other.
Gout is an accumulation of urate crystals in any one or more of your joints. Urate crystals can form when you have high levels of uric acid in your blood. If your body is producing too much uric acid or your kidneys are not able to process it properly, it can build up.
As uric acid builds up, your body can form sharp, needle-shaped urate crystals that can cause joint pain and inflammation. A bunion is a bump on the joint at the base of your big toe. If your big toe is pushing against your second toe, it can force the joint of your big toe to grow and stick out with a bunion.
There is not a consensus in the medical community as to the exact cause of how bunions develop, but factors might include:. Some experts believe that bunion development might be caused by ill-fitting too-narrow or high-heeled shoes. Others believe that footwear contributes to, but does not cause, bunion development. To diagnose gout , your doctor might use one of these methods:. Your doctor can most likely diagnose a bunion with just an examination of your foot. To treat your gout , your doctor might recommend medication such as:.
When treating bunions, to avoid surgery, doctors often start with conservative treatment methods such as:. While gout is a systemic condition, a bunion is a localized toe deformity.
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