An Attack of Gout

Posted on July 5, 2003 in Body Language

My left big toe nixed my plan for going to Barton Flats today. An invisible ring of pain encircles the joint that connects it to the foot. I imagine a ring oxidized to the green of a zinc sink clamped there. So I’m eating blueberries, taking my medicine, avoiding eating beans, and staying off the foot mostly.

No one knows why uric acid crystals gather in that joint. It’s not mere gravity. I’ve got nine other toes which could host the mineral deposit, but only the one has entertained them. It’s one of those mysteries of Science, perhaps underexplored because it is not life-threatening.