Day 993

Pinky toe pain

Activities that involve prolonged standing, running or walking can strain the muscles and joints associated with the pinky toe, leading to inflammation and pain over time. Our biggest fear: gout, known as podagra, characterized by sudden and severe attacks of pain, swelling, redness, and tenderness in toe joints due to the accumulation of uric acid crystals.

A friend of mine from Belarus, Evhen Budinas, suffered horrible gout attacks in the large joint of his big toe. No amount of hard drinking could alleviate the pain completely. I know because we tried. Life under Lukashenko with gout eventually became unbearable, so he moved back to Vilnius in 2001, according to Wikipedia, which notes that he received Order of Merit for Lithuania (Už nuopelnus Lietuvai) three months before his death in 2007.