Kidney Stones

What are kidney stones?

Kidney stones are small, hard deposits of waste chemicals such as calcium and phosphorous in your urine. The stones form inside your kidneys, but they can travel to other parts of your urinary tract, including your bladder as they work their way out of your body. 

Kidney stones can be so small that they're invisible to the naked eye, or in rare cases, they can grow so big that they actually distort your kidney. Many men and women develop multiple kidney stones at once.

What causes kidney stones?

Kidney stones can develop when your urine thickens because you don't have sufficient liquid to dilute the waste chemicals. The waste chemicals then clump together in crystal deposits to form kidney stones. 

What are the symptoms of kidney stones?

Kidney stones might not cause symptoms initially. But when the stones shift within your kidney or pass into your ureter, you'll often suffer from symptoms such as:

• Cloudy, pink, red, or brown urine
• Smelly urine
• Uncomfortable or painful urination
• Severe back or side pain
• Pain that radiates downward 
• Fever
• Chills
• Increased urge to urinate

Your symptoms might happen in waves, and they can change in intensity as they move around.

How are kidney stones treated?

Your Advanced Urology Medical Offices specialist determines the best treatment based on your symptoms and how your kidney stones are affecting your body. For small kidney stones, you might not need treatment. Many kidney stones pass naturally. You can help speed the process up by drinking plenty of water. 

For larger kidney stones, 4 mm or bigger, you might need treatment like extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy. This noninvasive treatment uses ultrasound energy to shatter your kidney stones into many particles, which you can then pass comfortably. 

Another option is surgery. Your urologist can remove stones stuck in your kidneys or ureter during a minimally invasive procedure called ureteroscopy. For large kidney stones, you might need percutaneous nephrolithotomy, in which your urologist creates a tiny incision in your back to access the kidney and removes the stone via a small tube. This surgery might be combined with lithotripsy, which is called a nephrolithotripsy.

Medication can help prevent some types of kidney stones. For example, thiazide diuretics and phosphate preparations can help stop calcium kidney stones from developing, while allopurinol can reduce your uric acid to prevent uric acid stones.

Kidney stones don’t have to cause ravaging pain if you reach out for help now. Call Advanced Urology Medical Offices, or book online today.