Gout guide

Gout flare treatment and prevention online in Virginia and West Virginia

This guide is for a typical gout flare in someone previously diagnosed with gout, or for starting/continuing daily allopurinol prevention with a recent creatinine, never for a first-ever hot, swollen joint or any hot joint with fever, which always need emergency or urgent in-person evaluation.

Start online

Start a $59 online review for Gout (flare or prevention).

Gout causes sudden, severe joint pain and swelling, most classically in the big toe. If you've had gout before and this flare feels typical, or if you want to start or continue daily allopurinol to prevent future flares, online treatment can often help quickly. But a hot, swollen joint for the first time ever, or any hot joint together with a fever, can be a joint infection instead of gout, and that always needs same-day in-person evaluation, never online treatment.

If treatment is appropriate, your physician can send a non-controlled prescription to your pharmacy and provide portal instructions for the next step.

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Quick facts

You must be physically located in Virginia or West Virginia at the time of request.
Starts at $59
No insurance needed
No app download
Physician review around the clock
Non-controlled prescriptions can be sent to your pharmacy when appropriate
A work or school note can be included when medically appropriate
Response times apply 24/7, every day

Common symptoms

Sudden, severe pain, swelling, redness, and warmth in a joint (classically the big toe)
A flare that feels similar to previous gout flares you've had
Wanting to start or continue daily allopurinol to prevent future flares

May fit online care

Adults 18 and older
A previously diagnosed gout flare that feels typical for you
No fever, and this is not the first time you've ever had a hot swollen joint
For allopurinol: a photo of a creatinine result from within the past 6 months
No azathioprine/6-mercaptopurine use, and (if starting allopurinol) ancestry counseling addressed if applicable

Look for another care setting

A hot, swollen joint for the first time ever (needs emergency evaluation for possible joint infection)
Any hot, swollen joint together with a fever (possible septic arthritis, an emergency)
Requesting a new allopurinol start during an active flare (QuickVisitMD handles the flare first and makes prevention a separate follow-up decision)
No creatinine result from the past 6 months for an allopurinol decision

What to have ready

Whether this is the first time ever you've had a hot swollen joint (if yes, seek in-person care instead)
Whether you have a fever
A clear photo of your creatinine (kidney function) lab result, if requesting allopurinol
Your current medications, especially azathioprine, 6-mercaptopurine, or a blood thinner

What happens next

Standard

$59

Within 6 hours

Priority

$99

Within 3 hours

Rush

$149

Within 1 hour

Start the request on the website, answer a few questions to check that this visit fits you, and choose how fast you want an answer (the response window). If your concern still fits this service, a physician reviews it and sends you a secure update after you sign in. When appropriate, non-controlled prescriptions can be sent to your pharmacy, and a basic work or school note can be included at physician discretion.

Your physician

Every visit is personally reviewed by Ankur Fadia, MD. He is board-certified, has extra training in heart care (a cardiology fellowship), and is a member of Alpha Omega Alpha, a medical honor society. He is licensed in Virginia and West Virginia, and your care is never handed off to someone else.

Verify Virginia medical license Verify West Virginia medical license Verify board certification

Why can't you treat a hot, swollen joint the first time it happens?

A joint infection (septic arthritis) can look almost identical to a gout flare, but it needs urgent drainage and IV antibiotics, and can permanently damage the joint if treatment is delayed. Because online care cannot examine or aspirate the joint, a first-ever hot swollen joint, or any hot joint with fever, always needs same-day in-person or emergency evaluation to rule this out.

What happens to allopurinol during a flare?

If you already take allopurinol, keep taking it during a flare unless your clinician (doctor or other health professional) tells you otherwise. Current guidelines allow starting it during a flare, case by case, when long-term treatment is indicated, but our online visit treats the flare first and decides about starting a prevention medicine at a separate follow-up.

Why does ancestry matter for allopurinol?

Guidelines recommend considering HLA-B*5801 testing before allopurinol for people of Southeast Asian descent (including Han Chinese, Korean, or Thai ancestry) and for African American patients because the variant is more common in these groups. A positive result raises the risk of a serious skin reaction.

Other conditions we treat

Not quite what you have? Here are other conditions we treat.

Achilles tendinitis Acute low back pain Acute muscle strain Ankle / wrist sprain Bursitis Costochondritis support