If you’ve never experienced a gout flare-up, understand that there’s absolutely nothing funny about it. The condition, a type of inflammatory arthritis, can feel like exactly that: flames. Shooting, burning, explosive pain – powerful and often sudden.
People with gout commonly feel this searing sensation in their big toe, but it can also affect their ankles, knees, elbows, wrists and fingers. An acute gout flare often starts at night and can last from four to 12 hours. Lingering discomfort can continue for a few weeks. Advanced cases can involve bumps or nodules forming in the body, including under the skin and in the joints, and – on top of all that – kidney stones.
Late last year, on his podcast Bussin’ with the Boys, offensive tackle and three-time NFL Pro Bowler Taylor Lewan went public about a debilitating gout flare that left him ‘always in pain’. Lewan, 34, compared himself to the characters of 127 Hours and the Saw films who cut off their own limbs to free themselves from danger.
‘I would rather tear my ACL and go through nine months of rehab again instead of having gout for a week,’ said Lewan, who did actually tear his ACL during a 2020 game.
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