How To Find Out If You Have Kidney Stones

• Facts
  • Kidney rock facts
• What Is It?
  • What is a kidney stone (nephrolithiasis)?
• Who Is At Risk?
  • Who is at risk for kidney stones?
• Causes
  • What causes kidney stones?
  • Other medical conditions which cause kidney stones
• Symptoms
  • What are the early signs and symptoms of kidney stones?
• Diagnosis
  • How are kidney stones diagnosed?
• Treatment
  • What is the handling for kidney stones? How long does it accept to laissez passer a kidney stone?
  • What is the prognosis for kidney stones?
  • Are home remedies effective for kidney stones?
• Prevention
  • Tin kidney stones exist prevented?
• Centre
  • The Offset Signs of Kidney Stones (Nephrolithiasis) Center
• Comments
  • Patient Comments: Kidney Stones - Causes
  • Patient Comments: Kidney Stones - Symptoms
  • Patient Comments: Kidney Stones - Treatment
  • Patient Comments: Kidney Stones - Prevention

Illustration of kidneys and kidney stone. Source: Getty Images

Kidney stone facts

• A kidney stone is a hard, crystalline mineral material formed within the kidney or urinary tract.
• Nephrolithiasis is the medical term for kidney stones.
• Ane in every 20 people develops kidney stones at some point in their life.
• Kidney stones form when there is a subtract in urine volume and/or an backlog of stone-forming substances in the urine.
• Aridity is a major adventure factor for kidney rock germination.
• Symptoms of a kidney stone include flank hurting (the pain tin be quite astringent) and blood in the urine (hematuria).
• People with certain medical weather, such as gout, and those who take certain medications or supplements are at risk for kidney stones.
• Nutrition and hereditary factors are as well related to stone formation.
• Diagnosis of kidney stones is best accomplished using an ultrasound, intravenous pyleography (IVP), or a CT scan.
• Most kidney stones will laissez passer through the ureter to the bladder on their own with time.
• Treatment includes pain-control medications and, in some cases, medications to facilitate the passage of urine.
• If needed, lithotripsy or surgical techniques may be used for stones which do not pass through the ureter to the float on their own.

Kidney Stone Treatment

Almost kidney stones somewhen pass from the kidney through the ureter and bladder and finally through the urethra on their own. Nonetheless, treatment is oft required for hurting control from kidney stones as they laissez passer. The consumption of ample fluids helps facilitate the passage of kidney stones, but even with plentiful fluid intake, most people require some type of medications for pain control.

A kidney stone is a hard, crystalline mineral cloth formed inside the kidney or urinary tract. Source: MedicineNet

What is a kidney stone (nephrolithiasis)?

A kidney rock is a hard, crystalline mineral material formed within the kidney or urinary tract. Kidney stones are a mutual cause of blood in the urine (hematuria) and frequently astringent pain in the abdomen, flank, or groin. Kidney stones are sometimes called renal calculi.

The condition of having kidney stones is termed nephrolithiasis. Having stones at any location in the urinary tract is referred to as urolithiasis, and the term ureterolithiasis is used to refer to stones located in the ureters.

A family history of kidney stones is besides a risk factor for developing kidney stones. Source: Getty Images

Who is at take a chance for kidney stones?

Anyone may develop a kidney stone, but people with sure diseases and conditions (see beneath) or those who are taking certain medications are more susceptible to their development. Urinary tract stones are more than common in men than in women. Most urinary stones develop in people 20 to 49 years of age, and those who are prone to multiple attacks of kidney stones normally develop their kickoff stones during the 2d or third decade of life. People who have already had more than one kidney stone are decumbent to developing further stones.

In residents of industrialized countries, kidney stones are more common than stones in the bladder. The opposite is true for residents of developing areas of the world, where bladder stones are the well-nigh common. This departure is believed to be related to dietary factors. People who live in the southern or southwestern regions of the U.S. take a college rate of kidney stone formation, possibly due to inadequate water intake leading to dehydration than those living in other areas. Over the last few decades, the percent of people with kidney stones in the U.S. has been increasing, well-nigh likely related to the obesity epidemic.

A family history of kidney stones is also a risk factor for developing kidney stones. Kidney stones are more mutual in Asians and Caucasians than in Native Americans, Africans, or African Americans.

Uric acid kidney stones are more common in people with chronically elevated uric acid levels in their blood (hyperuricemia).

A small-scale number of pregnant women develop kidney stones, and at that place is some evidence that pregnancy-related changes may increase the hazard of stone formation. Factors that may contribute to the stone germination during pregnancy include a slowing of the passage of urine due to increased progesterone levels and macerated fluid intake due to a decreasing bladder capacity from the enlarging uterus. Healthy meaning women also have a mild increase in their urinary calcium excretion. All the same, information technology remains unclear whether the changes of pregnancy are direct responsible for kidney rock germination or if these women have another underlying factor that predisposes them to kidney rock formation.

Types of kidney stones include calcium oxalate, calcium phosphate, uric acrid, struvite, and cysteine. Source: Northward/A

What causes kidney stones?

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Kidney stones class when there is a subtract in urine book and/or an excess of stone-forming substances in the urine. The most common blazon of kidney stone contains calcium in combination with either oxalate or phosphate. A majority of kidney stones are calcium stones. Other chemical compounds that can form stones in the urinary tract include uric acrid, magnesium ammonium phosphate (which forms struvite stones; see beneath), and the amino acid cysteine.

Dehydration from the reduced fluid intake or strenuous do without acceptable fluid replacement increases the risk of kidney stones. Obstruction to the catamenia of urine tin also lead to rock germination. In this regard, climate may be a chance factor for kidney stone development, since residents of hot and dry out areas are more likely to become dehydrated and susceptible to stone formation.

Kidney stones can also issue from infection in the urinary tract. These are known every bit struvite or infection stones. Metabolic abnormalities, including inherited disorders of metabolism, can alter the composition of the urine and increment an individual's risk of stone formation.

SLIDESHOW

Kidney Stones: Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment Come across Slideshow

A number of unlike medical conditions tin can atomic number 82 to an increased take a chance for developing kidney stones include gout, hypercalciuria, other conditions, and more. Source: iStock

Other medical weather condition which cause kidney stones

A number of different medical weather can lead to an increased adventure for developing kidney stones:

• Gout results in chronically increased amount of uric acid in the claret and urine and tin can lead to the formation of uric acid kidney stones.
• Hypercalciuria (high calcium in the urine), another inherited status, causes stones in more than half of cases. In this condition, as well much calcium is captivated from nutrient and excreted into the urine, where information technology may form calcium phosphate or calcium oxalate kidney stones.
• Other weather associated with an increased take chances of kidney stones include hyperparathyroidism, kidney diseases such as renal tubular acidosis, and other inherited metabolic weather condition, including cystinuria and hyperoxaluria.
• Chronic diseases such as diabetes and high blood force per unit area (hypertension) are also associated with an increased adventure of developing kidney stones.
• People with inflammatory bowel disease are also more than likely to develop kidney stones.
• Those who accept undergone intestinal bypass or ostomy surgery are also at increased gamble for kidney stones.
• Some medications also enhance the adventure of kidney stones. These medications include some diuretics, calcium-containing antacids, and the protease inhibitor indinavir (Crixivan), a drug used to treat HIV infection.
• Dietary factors and practices may increase the run a risk of stone formation in susceptible individuals. In particular, inadequate fluid intake predisposes to dehydration, which is a major risk factor for stone formation. Other dietary practices that may increase an individual's adventure of forming kidney stones include a loftier intake of animate being poly peptide, a high-salt diet, excessive carbohydrate consumption, excessive vitamin D supplementation, and excessive intake of oxalate-containing foods such as spinach. Interestingly, low levels of dietary calcium intake may modify the calcium-oxalate remainder and result in the increased excretion of oxalate and a propensity to form oxalate stones.
• Hyperoxaluria as an inherited status is uncommon and is known as primary hyperoxaluria. The elevated levels of oxalate in the urine increment the risk of stone formation. Primary hyperoxaluria is much less common than hyperoxaluria due to dietary factors equally mentioned in a higher place.

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The early signs and symptoms of kidney stones inclu de abdominal, groin, and/or back pain. Source: iStock

What are the early on signs and symptoms of kidney stones?

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While some kidney stones may non produce symptoms (known as "silent" stones), people who take kidney stones often report the sudden onset of excruciating, cramping pain in their low back and/or side, groin, or belly. Changes in body position do not salvage this hurting. The abdominal, groin, and/or back pain typically waxes and wanes in severity, feature of colicky pain (the pain is sometimes referred to as renal colic). It may be then severe that it is often accompanied by nausea and vomiting. The hurting has been described by many equally the worst pain of their lives, even worse than the pain of childbirth or cleaved bones. Kidney stones also characteristically crusade bloody urine. If the infection is nowadays in the urinary tract forth with the stones, at that place may be fever and chills. Sometimes, symptoms such as difficulty urinating, urinary urgency, penile pain, or testicular pain may occur due to kidney stones.

How are kidney stones diagnosed?

The diagnosis of kidney stones is suspected when the typical pattern of symptoms is noted and when other possible causes of the intestinal or flank hurting are excluded. Which is the ideal test to diagnose kidney stones is controversial. Imaging tests are usually washed to confirm the diagnosis. Many patients who go to the emergency room volition have a not-contrast CT browse done. This can be washed rapidly and volition help rule out other causes for flank or abdominal pain. Notwithstanding, a CT scan exposes patients to significant radiation, and recently, ultrasound in combination with obviously abdominal Ten-rays take been shown to exist effective in diagnosing kidney stones.

In pregnant women or those who should avert radiation exposure, an ultrasound exam may be done to help establish the diagnosis.

IMAGES

Kidney Stone Crystal Browse through our medical image drove to see and discover unique diseases and weather condition See Images

Although there are no proven dwelling house remedies to dissolve kidney stones, home treatment may exist considered for patients who have a known history of kidney stones. Source: N/A

What is the treatment for kidney stones? How long does it have to laissez passer a kidney stone?

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Most kidney stones eventually pass through the urinary tract on their own within 48 hours, with ample fluid intake. Ketorolac (Toradol), an injectable anti-inflammatory drug, and narcotics may exist used for pain command when over-the-counter pain command medications are non effective. Toradol, aspirin, and NSAIDs must exist avoided if lithotripsy is to be done because of the increased take chances of bleeding or if there is impaired kidney function. Intravenous pain medications tin can be given when nausea and vomiting are present.

Although there are no proven home remedies to dissolve kidney stones, home treatment may be considered for patients who have a known history of kidney stones. Since about kidney stones, given fourth dimension, will pass through the ureter to the float on their own, treatment is directed toward control of symptoms. Home intendance in this case includes the consumption of plenty of fluids. Acetaminophen (Tylenol) may exist used as pain medication if there is no contraindication to its utilise. If farther hurting medication is needed, stronger narcotic pain medications may exist recommended.

In that location are several factors that influence the power to pass a stone. These include the size of the person, prior rock passage, prostate enlargement, pregnancy, and the size of the stone. A 4 mm stone has an fourscore% chance of passage while a 5 mm stone has a 20% chance. Stones larger than nine mm to ten mm rarely laissez passer without specific treatment.

Some medications have been used to increase the passage rates of kidney stones. These include calcium aqueduct blockers such as nifedipine (Adalat, Procardia, Afeditab, Nifediac) and alpha-blockers such every bit tamsulosin (Flomax). These drugs may be prescribed to some people who have stones that do not chop-chop laissez passer through the urinary tract.

For kidney stones that do non laissez passer on their own, a procedure chosen lithotripsy is ofttimes used. In this procedure, daze waves are used to interruption up a large stone into smaller pieces that tin can so laissez passer through the urinary system.

Surgical techniques have also been developed to remove kidney stones when other treatment methods are not effective. This may be done through a minor incision in the peel (percutaneous nephrolithotomy) or through an instrument is known as a ureteroscope passed through the urethra and bladder up into the ureter.

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People who have a trend to form calcium oxalate kidney stones may be brash to limit their consumption of foods high in oxalates, such every bit spinach, rhubarb, Swiss chard, beets, wheat germ, and peanuts. Source: iStock

Can kidney stones be prevented?

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Rather than having to undergo treatment, information technology is best to avoid kidney stones in the outset place when possible. It can be especially helpful to drink more h2o since low fluid intake and dehydration are major risk factors for kidney rock formation.

Depending on the cause of the kidney stones and an private's medical history, changes in the diet or medications are sometimes recommended to subtract the likelihood of developing farther kidney stones. If i has passed a stone, information technology can exist peculiarly helpful to have it analyzed in a laboratory to decide the precise type of stone then specific prevention measures tin exist considered.

People who have a tendency to class calcium oxalate kidney stones may be advised to limit their consumption of foods loftier in oxalates, such every bit spinach, rhubarb, Swiss chard, beets, wheat germ, and peanuts. Also drinking lemon juice or lemonade may exist helpful in preventing kidney stones.

What is the prognosis for kidney stones?

Well-nigh kidney stones volition pass on their ain, and successful treatments have been adult to remove larger stones or stones that practise non pass. People who have had a kidney stone remain at gamble for future stones throughout their lives.

Are home remedies effective for kidney stones?

For some people who take had many kidney stones, home care may be appropriate. When passing a kidney stone, drinking lots of fluid is important. In fact, this is the most important habitation intendance measure. Medications may help control the pain (as described previously). Yet, if it is the get-go time one has had symptoms suggestive of a kidney stone, it is of import to run into a medico right away.

Medically Reviewed on 2/11/2021

References

Medically reviewed by John A. Daller, MD; American Board of Surgery with subspecialty certification in surgical critical care

REFERENCES:

"Kidney Stones in Adults." National Kidney & Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse. Sept. two, 2010. <http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/Kudiseases/pubs/stonesadults/>

Shekarriz, Bijan. "Hyperoxaluria." Medscape.com. Apr. 5, 2013. <http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/444683-overview>.

Wolf Jr., J. Stuart. "Nephrolithiasis." Medscape.com. September 26, 2015. <http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/437096-overview>

Source: https://www.medicinenet.com/kidney_stones/article.htm

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