Could wearing heels cause painful gout?

[JeanetteX]

Hi girls,

I was wondering if there's anyone out there who, like me, occasionally suffers from gout in their feet.

From visits to my doctor I've learned that gout is mainly caused by ingredients in certain types of drinks and food but I've always wondered if wearing high heels too often could also trigger an attack. After all our feet are not placed in a natural position while wearing heels. But when dressed I must wear them, they are the one item that makes me feel most feminine.

I only dress at home and keep this to myself so I've never had the guts to ask my doctor. Anyone of you know?

Thanks

[Beverley Sims]

Wearing tight shoes would add to the discomfort but would not be a cause.

[Pat]

My understanding is that gout is the result of microscopic crystals of ureic acid forming in the joints. I would guess if you were on the verge of a gout episode, stressing the toe joints with heels might put you over the edge, but there's no reason for them to cause the crystals to form. That seems to be a function of ureic acid in the blood.

[junetv]

I suffer from gout too. And wearing heels seems to aggravate the condition, but imho it does not the underlying reason for a gout attack. Try and research some remedies to help the condition. Certain vitamins can help to eliminate more uric acid.

[Jaymees22]

I too doubt if wearing heels would cause Gout, I always thought it was a diet thing. Wearing heels for a long time does hurt with or without Gout. So many GGs wear sneakers to work and then put heels on when they get there. Hugs Jaymee

[StarrOfDelite]

As an echo to what other posters have said, high heels or otherwise tight shoes cannot cause gout. It is a condition caused by excess uric acid in the blood, and is classified as an arthritic disease. While the most common place where people experience gout pain is in the toes, it can also cause pain in the knees and elbows.

I think that the problem is eating too much protein and fats, which in some people can be metabolized into the aforesaid uric acid.

However, high heels can do a lot of damage to the human foot, as even a brief perusal of the articles you get when you google the subject will demonstrate.

I'm sure that a person suffering from a flareup of gout in the foot would find the wearing of heels to be fairly excruciating.

[kimdl93]

No.

"Gout occurs when urate crystals accumulate in your joint, causing the inflammation and intense pain of a gout attack. Urate crystals can form when you have high levels of uric acid in your blood." source: Mayo clinic website

If you are suffering from a gouty arthritis flare up, tight shoes will not cause, but will add to your discomfort.

[carolyn todd]

Try fresh cherries. that work's
and cherry juice (cartons)

Carolyn xx

[cdsara]

I suffer from gout also. I hardly eat any meat or beans but still get it. I actually think my heels help when I am hurting from it. I agree the cherry juice helps (tart juice is best) but it causes other problems also.

[Alice Torn]

Check searches for natural remedies for gout.

[HollySmtms]

I agree with Carolyn, drinking cherry juice really helped!

[docrobbysherry]

Maybe it's a lot like my sciatica. It hardly ever bothers me unless I'm wearing a corset or too many tite girdles.

When I do, then it pops up quit often!

[Michelle (Oz)]

My sympathies are with you Jeanette. Gout attacks are horribly painful. I've been prescribed Progout (in Australia) to neutralise uric acid and now take a tablet each day without fail. Touch wood I haven't had an attack for a number of years. There may be natural remedies but the chemicals work for me.

I don't believe the shoes would bring on gout but the crystals seem to form in areas of weakness or injury. Stressing your ankles could amplify the effects.

Get yourself a script and see how you go.

[ClosetED]

Injury will not cause gout, but if you have high uric acid levels, minor trauma CAN set off a flare up of the crystal formation and pain, therefore an acute gout attack. So wearing tight shoes may very well set it off. If you get shoes that are comfortable, it would be better- sandals that keep any pressure off your first MTP joint-the connection of the big toe and foot-assuming that is where your gout usually appears (most common site).
Hugs, Ellen, M.D.

[jeanieinabottle]

Hi Gals,
As a doc I've seen and treated a lot of gout in my day. An awful lot. And most of the posts have it pegged pretty well. It is true that uric acid, which is from the breakdown of some proteins (called purines), is the cause of gout. And we all have uric acid in our blood as a result of breaking down these proteins that we get in our diet but most is gotten rid of thru the kidneys. But I have to say that a good number of the patients I've taken care of didn't have high uric acid levels (outside of a normal range) when they had the attack. A couple facts. Most gout starts during the night. The reason is that the uric acid crystallizes in the joints with the big toe joint being most common because the joint fluid may become a little more concentrated and the uric acid comes out of solution and forms into crystals. The crystals draw white blood cells which become pierced by the sharp needle shaped crystals and some of the enzymes in the white blood cells then leak from the cell which starts the inflammation ball rolling. The inflammation can be tremendous and looks very much like what we call a septic (or infected) joint. Anti-inflammatory medications stop the inflammation dramatically within about 24 hours, ie high (not low) dose Motrin and the like.
But what about high heels and gout. It turns out that gout also likes joints that are a bit damaged, ie arthritic. The big toe, because of location and stress, is one of those joints. If wearing high heels produces more damage to the joint where a lot of stress is placed on the big toe joint with high heels (did a study on that once) and the conditions for allowing the uric acid crystals to form are right (making too much or getting rid of too little)....voila....a gouty episode. So a single episode of wearing high heels would most likely not be the cause. But if wearing high heels causes continued arthritic damage to the joint which in many cases it does, the joint is a set up but if and only if conditions are right for the crystals to form. And then again, a lot has to do with how your body handles the uric acid. In most cases it does a good job and no gouty attacks. If people have chronic gout, I've found that diet changes don't make much difference but some medications may help to either prevent uric acid from forming or increasing the elimination of it from the kidneys.
Sorry about the lecture. Used to lecturing medical students.

[Jean 103]

I have two roommates that suffer from Gout. From what I have seen the biggest trigger is diet. There are lots of thinks they are not supposed to drink or eat, like Beer. They take medication, but it doesn’t make up for poor diet or drinking too much. My one roommate has had attacks that have put him in the hospital. Take care of yourself and follow what your doctor says.

[Cheryl T]

It can't cause Gout, but I'm sure if you had Gout you would not be wearing high heels...or any shoe if you could help it.

[jeanieinabottle]

About the beer.....beer has a large amount of those purines that are broken down into uric acid. But those that drink lots of beer and have gout have the double whammy as we say in medicine. They take in a lot of purines, hence a lot of uric acid. But they also don't handle it well and don't get rid of it as well as most. Therefore, it accumulates. There are a lot that drink beer but without gout....no double whammy.
In my gout patients I did prescribe a low purine diet. But that alone did not generally solve the problem. The problem was more so an individual's ability to handle the uric acid (production vs. elimination). Also some people get only one or two episodes and then no more. Some with chronic where uric acid may then cause kidney stones or deposits of uric acid in the skin which can destroy joints more.
So again, high heels the cause....no. But if wearing them destroys the joint by wear and tear, and if someone is not able to handle the uric acid, more likely to get a gouty attack.
Dr. J

[giuseppina]

Dr. J,

Are there any drugs or other therapies that enhance the elimination of uric acid with tolerable side effects? It goes without saying that Jeanette and anyone else should consult their doctor for this and any other health issue that may be troubling them.

[jeanieinabottle]

Hey Guiseppina,
There are some drugs such as probenecid which do increase elimination of uric acid. The problem is that they may produce uric acid kidney/renal stones depending on the condition of the pH of the urine. The more common drug is allopurinol which prevents or limits the formation of uric acid. Some people also use a drug called colchicine which is an anti-inflammatory drug prophylactically but I'm not too crazy about that. I would agree that everyone should consult their doctor about if and what drugs to take in that there can be other drug interactions and some side effects that they should be aware of. The question also is whether someone makes too much, which is sometimes a metabolic error, or do they excrete too little. With one gouty attack, the thing is to just take care of the attack. It is an error to try to lower the uric acid too soon after a gouty attack in that that may also precipitate a gouty attack. So if someone has gout, they first need to get out of the inflammatory stage. Then watch for awhile. If they have repeated attacks, however, often something either to reduce production or increase excretion or sometimes both is given to prevent further joint damage.
Fun stuff.....unless you have a gouty episode.
Dr. J

[Michelle (Oz)]

The more common drug is allopurinol which prevents or limits the formation of uric acid.

This has been an informative thread. Further to my post at #13, I use allopurinol which works extremely well for me but the nuances explained by Dr J are worth noting.

[Allison Chaynes]

Jeanette, the heels won't cause gout, it's dietary. I had major problems with it until I learned a VERY simple way to avoid it completely- take 1000 mg of Vitamin C each day and stay hydrated. I was having attacks every two to three weeks, allopurinol reduced that to monthly even after major diet changes, but the Vitamin C changed everything. I quit taking allopurinol last June and have not had a SINGLE attack since. I also cut most of the salt (sodium) out of my diet, which didn't hurt either.

[jeanieinabottle]

Hey y'all,
It would be nice if it was only dietary then the solution would be simple. But it is not. It is much more complex that that. If it was only dietary, why is it unusual in males under 35-40 and is very infrequently seen in females (less than 5% of all cases) when diets might not change much? And again some get one episode and do nothing and get no more. My recommendation is if someone has a gouty attack, they should check with their doctor. A number of medications as well as a number of other medical conditions, some quite serious (those producing a breaking down our own body protein in muscle, etc., into uric acid), can precipitate gout (secondary gout). If it was only diet, then we would have a heck of a lot more gout than we see in medical practice. In most cases it appears as if some are more likely to get gout because of some idiopathic metabolic defect, in other words, how one handles the uric acid (production and excretion). Some people can eat a whole lot of protein (purines) but never get gout. So again my recommendation would be to check with your doctor. While I always advised my patients about a low purine diet, more often than not, it took a bit more than that to keep things under control.
Dr. J

[Salley]

Simply no on the heels it just Uric acid build up and crystals build up in the cells in your feet or any where
Not a nice thing to have

[Christispanties]

I have gout, I had my first episode at 26, over the years it got so bad that I ended up with toes joint damage that had to be corrected with surgery.
Like Dr. J said there are med's you can take. I had taken cholchicine which was horrible, during an episode I was told to take a pill every hour until I got sick, it did cute the flare up but was not worth the outcome.
I currently take Allopurinol and have been taking it for about 15 years and have not had any flare ups. Next time at your Dr. Have them do a blood test and check you Utica acid levels if it is high or elevated ask them about how to bring it down...good luck