Acute attacks of gout usually last 1-2 weeks, with symptoms disappearing in as little as three days. However, as gout progresses, if blood uric acid is not well controlled, attacks may become more frequent and each recovery will take longer and longer. Gout is a crystal-associated arthritis caused by hyperuricemia. It is a sterile inflammation caused by the deposition of uric acid crystals in the area of the joint due to high uric acid, typically manifested by redness, swelling, heat, pain and dysfunction of the first metatarsophalangeal joint. The key to treating gout is to keep blood uric acid within the normal range, both with a strict low purine diet and long-term treatment with uric acid-lowering drugs.