Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment of Kidney Stones

What are Kidney stones?

Kidney stones are a state in which rocks made of salt and minerals in urine stick together to form a small "pebble".

Kidney stones can be as small as a grain of sand or as large as a golf ball. Kidney stones can stay in the kidney or come out of your body through the urinary tract.

The urinary tract is a system that creates the urine and then takes it out of your body. Urinary track consists of kidneys, tubes connecting the kidneys to the bladder (ureter), bladder, and tube that lead from the bladder out of the body (urethra).

When the stone runs through the ureter, it usually causes pain and other symptoms.

What causes kidney stone?

Kidney stones are formed when changes occur in the normal balance of water, salt, minerals, and other things found in the urine. The most common cause of kidney stones is not drinking enough water.

Try to drink enough water, make sure your urine color is clear yellow or clear like water (that will take about 8 to 10 glasses a day).

Some people are more likely to get kidney stones due to medical conditions, such as gout.

Kidney stones can also be inherited. If other people in your family have kidney stones, you can potentially experience them as well.

What are the symptoms of kidney stone?

Kidney stones are often painless when they are still in the kidneys. However they can cause a sudden pain, or severe pain as they travel from kidney to bladder.

Call your doctor right away if you feel you have kidney stones. Watch for severe pain in the waist, abdomen, or crotch or if you have urine that colors pink or red. You may also feel abdominal pain (nausea) and may vomit.

You may find that you have kidney stones when you visit a doctor or go to the emergency room with pain in the abdomen or waist.

Doctor usually will ask questions about the pain and your lifestyle. He will examine you and may perform imaging tests such as CT scan or ultrasound to see the kidneys and urinary tract.

You may need more tests if you have more than one stone or have a family history of kidney stones. To find the cause of your kidney stones, your doctor may suggest a blood test and ask you to collect your urine for 24 hours.

This can help your doctor to find out if you are likely potential have kidney stones in the future.

Kidney stone treatment.

Kidney stones may or may not cause pain. However, kidney stones without pain usually are found when patient checks for things that are not related to the kidney and accidentally discovered by the doctor.

Most kidney stone cases will not require hospitalization and more advise and counseling by educating the patient to take care of themselves at home.

You may need to take pain medication. You should drink enough water and fluids so you do not get dehydrated. Your doctor may give you medicine to help the stones to pass through the urinary tract.

If the stone is too big to pass alone, or if stuck in the urinary tract, you may need more treatment.

The most common treatment is Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy (ESWL). ESWL uses shock waves to break the kidney stones into small pieces. Pieces of stone can get out of the body through your urine (pee).

Later, doctors will need to pick up stones or place a small flexible plastic tube (called a stent) on the urethra to keep the urethra open temporarily to pass the stone.

Once you have kidney stones, you are more likely to experience kidney stones again. You can help prevent the occurrence of stones by drinking plenty of water.

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You may have to limit your consumption on certain foods, like salt. Your doctor may also provide medications that help prevent the formation of stones in the future.