The kidneys play a crucial role in the body. They remove waste and fluid from the blood and pass it out as urine. Stones are formed in the kidney when there are certain wastes the organ cannot process and there is not enough fluid in your blood. These clumps of waste then stick to the kidney and form what is known as kidney stones.

Who’s at risk of kidney stones

Just about anyone can get kidney stones but certain people like men and caucasian people are more likely to have it. You’re also prone to getting it if you’ve once had it before, if you’re obese to or on a high protein diet and high sugar/sodium diet.

According to the American Kidney Fund website, here are some other reasons why you could have Kidney stones.

• If you have had gastric bypass surgery or another intestinal surgery.
• You have polycystic kidney disease or another cystic kidney disease.
• If you have a certain condition that causes your urine to contain high levels of cystine, oxalate, uric acid, or calcium.
• You have a condition that causes swelling or irritation in your bowel or your joints.
• You take certain medicines, such as diuretics (water pills) or calcium-based antacids.

What are the symptoms?

If your kidney stones are very small, you may not have any symptoms. However, if they’re sizeable, they may begin to obstruct your urinary tract causing you to feel pain every time you urinate. Other symptoms include blood spotting in the urine, sharp pain at your back or lower abdomen, nausea, and vomiting.

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What are the treatments

Treatment will be based on the size of the kidney stones, what they’re made of, and if they’re obstructing your urinary tract. To ascertain this, your doctor will recommend that you perform a series of tests. They include urine tests, blood tests, x-ray, and/or CT scan. A CT scan may use a contrast dye so if you react negatively to a contrast dye be sure to tell your doctor.

If the test shows the kidney stones are small, you may be given painkillers and asked to drink lots of fluid to enable you to pass them out when you urinate. If they’re large, another treatment called lithotripsy may be needed.

 

The lithotripsy treatment uses shock waves sent through the body to break the stones into tiny bits. It usually takes 45mins to complete this process and once it’s done, you should be able to pass out the stones while you urinate.

 

Another treatment option is a ureteroscopy. A long tool in the shape of a tube is inserted into the kidney to find and remove the stone. If they are small, the tube is used to scoop out the stones. However, if they are rather large, a laser is used to break them into smaller bits. This procedure is usually done under anesthesia.

 

Finally, although this is rarely done, a surgery called percutaneous nephrolithotomy may be recommended. During this process, a tube is inserted into the kidney to extract the stones.

 

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