A kidney stone can be an incredibly painful condition that many people experience at some point in their lives. While kidney stones are relatively common, it’s not always easy to know what you can do about them and how to treat them if you’re unlucky enough to get one. Kidney stones are solid formations of minerals and salts that form inside the kidneys when urine becomes concentrated with substances like calcium, uric acid, or oxalate. The stones can cause severe pain in the back or side, nausea, vomiting, fever, and chills; they’re also extremely painful to pass through the urinary tract, which may require surgery to remove them if they’re large enough.
Symptoms of Kidney Stones
Kidney stones can cause a lot of pain and discomfort. The most common symptom is a sharp pain in your side or back that gets worse as the stone moves down your urinary tract. Other symptoms can include nausea, vomiting, fever, and urinary tract infection. If you think you have kidney stones, it's important to see a doctor right away to get the kidney stones treatment at the right time.
Diagnosis of Kidney Stones
Doctors use imaging tests like ultrasounds and CT scans to diagnose kidney stones. There are several different treatment options for renal calculi (the technical term for kidney stones). Doctors may recommend medication such as antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs, or painkillers to help manage any accompanying infections. People with small calcium oxalate stones may be able to avoid surgery by taking daily doses of magnesium citrate. In more severe cases, a patient may need surgery to remove the stone(s) from their kidneys if they do not respond well to other treatments or if there are complications from the condition.
Causes of Kidney Stones and pain
Kidney stones are usually caused by not drinking enough fluids, which causes the urine to become concentrated and allows minerals to crystallize and stick together. Other possible causes include eating a high-protein, low-fiber diet; being obese; having a family history of kidney stones; taking certain medications; and having certain medical conditions, such as gout, Crohn's disease, or urinary tract infections. Pain from kidney stones is typically worse in the side where it occurs. The pain can be either sudden and severe or gradual, worsening over time. It can be worsened by coughing, sneezing, straining during bowel movements, urinating (especially when there is blood in the urine), sexual intercourse, and other physical activity that increases pressure on your abdomen.
Prevention Tips For Getting Rid Of Your Kidney Stone Faster
1. Drink lots of fluids, especially water, every day. This will help flush out your system and dilute the urine so that stone-forming minerals are less likely to collect.
2. Eat a healthy diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
3. Limit your intake of salt, sugar, animal protein, and foods high in oxalates (such as spinach, rhubarb, chocolate, nuts, and tea).
4. Get enough calcium through diet or supplements.
5. If you have gout, limit your intake of purines (found in organ meats, anchovies, herring, and legumes).
6. If you're obese or overweight, try to lose weight gradually through diet and exercise.
7. Stop smoking cigarettes, which can reduce blood flow to the kidneys.
8. Avoid medicines such as aspirin and ibuprofen if you have kidney stones.
9. Drink caffeinated beverages with caution; they can worsen symptoms of uric acid stones by increasing the production of uric acid.
10. Get enough potassium in your diet by eating bananas, oranges, apricots, potatoes with skin on, white beans, avocados, peas, and lentils.
11. Check for signs of infection, such as fever or chills, nausea, and vomiting, abdominal pain, or a red rash that comes and goes.
12. Be sure to see your doctor when there is a pain in the lower back with an inability to pass gas or difficulty urinating.
13. Don't self-medicate by drinking cola drinks or taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen for relief because these things may aggravate kidney stones instead of relieving them.
If a kidney stone becomes lodged within the ureter (the tube connecting the kidney to the bladder), this can lead to serious problems, including major bleeding and blocked urine flow. Emergency surgery may be necessary if these complications arise.