Welcome to GoutPal’s Gout Forum. Anyone can post here - there is no need to register, though you can do if you wish to save typing your name and email address each time.
The first step is to find a rheumatologist. Full instructions are on the page - just select South Africa on the right hand side of the page, then check the patient care box.
Tophi (the plural of tophus) can be shrunk by lowering uric acid below 6mg/dl, and maintaining this level for several months. allopurinol is the usual medication for this, but other treatments are available if allopurinol cannot be tolerated.
If the tophi have become so large as to restrict movement, cause pain, or become infected, then they may have to be surgically removed. Even if this is the case, then uric acid lowering treatment is still essential, as tophi will grow back on the same site, or elsewhere.
Got a Sore Point? If you see any mistakes on this website, or anything that makes you sore, please tell me or, even better, discuss it in the gout website forum.