Kidney Probblem????

Question

How do you come to know that u have stones in ur kidneys? in simple words..may i know the symptoms please? And what is the best method for removing the stones except operation?
Thanks for your answers..

Answer 1

What is a kidney stone?
A kidney stone, or "urinary stone," develops when crystals from salt and mineral substances form in the urine. These crystals can combine and grow to form a stone.

The stones can range in size from a grain of salt to a golf ball, or even larger. Some stones may move to other parts of the urinary system, including the bladder and the ureter (the vessel that transports urine from the kidney to the bladder).

What are the symptoms of a kidney stone?
The most common symptoms of kidney stones are blood in the urine and pain. You may not be able to see the blood in your urine, and your doctor will need to test the urine with a dipstick. The stone can cause pain once it passes into the ureter. Typically, the pain starts in the back by the rib cage and travels around to the side as the stone moves. It may also radiate (spread out) into the groin.

Other symptoms include:

Feeling the need to urinate often
Inability to urinate (because a stone is blocking the urinary tract)
Nausea
Vomiting
Rarely, a stone can cause an infection in the urine by blocking its flow. Cloudy, foul-smelling urine, fever, chills, or weakness may be signs of a serious infection.

How are kidney stones diagnosed?
To determine if you have kidney stones, the doctor will ask you about your diet, use of medication, lifestyle, and your family's medical history.

Several tests are used to look for kidney stones, including abdominal X-ray, ultrasound, intravenous pyelography (IVP), or computed tomography (CT) scan. In IVP, you receive an injection of dye before the X-ray is taken. The dye is used to get a better image of the size and location of the kidney stone.

You may also undergo a urine test to detect very small kidney stones in the urine. The urine is collected and strained, and any stones found in the urine are analyzed to determine their chemical composition.

How are kidney stones treated?
Kidney stones can usually be treated without surgery. Your doctor, or a kidney specialist, may check the chemical composition of the urine by asking you to collect your urine for a full 24 hours. Then, adjustments in your diet and fluid intake may be prescribed to help stop formation of stones. Water intake is the most important step in helping to reduce kidney stone formation. Drinking up to three quarts of fluids a day will cause the urine to be very dilute, and chemicals will have less of a chance crystallizing together and forming stones.

If your kidney stone doesn’t pass through your urinary system on its own, your doctor may refer you to a urologist, who can remove stones when they become a problem. The procedures for removing kidney stones include the following:

Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL)
ESWL (extracorporeal means "outside the body") is a procedure that uses shock waves to smash the kidney stone into tiny pieces that can pass from the body. It is usually used for smaller stones. In ESWL, the patient is placed in a large tub of water. The urologist locates the kidney stone with an X-ray or ultrasound. Shock waves are generated and travel through the water to the kidney area and crush the stone.
ESWL is performed on an outpatient basis and the patient can go home a few hours after the procedure. Side effects include blood in the urine for a few days and bruising in the back (caused by the shock waves).

Percutaneous nephrolithotomy
This is more of a surgical procedure and is intended for larger kidney stones. The urologist makes an incision in the patient’s back and inserts an instrument called a nephroscope into the kidney to remove the stone. In some cases, the urologist may need to use ultrasound to break a larger stone into smaller pieces. Following the procedure, the patient remains in the hospital for a few days.

Ureteroscopy
This procedure is performed when the stone is located in the ureter. The urologist slips an instrument called a ureteroscope through the urethra (the tube through which the urine passes) into the bladder and up to the ureter. The urologist can then remove the stone with a device that resembles a cage or use ultrasound shock waves to pulverize the stone.

Hope that helps,
Take Care :)..

P.S
Check out the last URL of my sources,

Answer 2

Most stones, if confined to the kidneys, do not show any symptoms. Sometimes if they move, they will cause a little blood in the urine. If they are large enough, they will totally block the kidney, causing the kidney to get larger and painful. You'll know immediately if you have stones if they move into the tube that runs from your kidney to the bladder. The pain is amazing. Just think what it would feel like passing your car keys. If the stone is passed, just try to reduce the chance of getting another one by drinking plenty of water (that's low in calcium). If your kidney has stones, the only way to get rid of them is by some type of surgical procedure. The urologist can go after them with a long tube with a pair of pincher's on the end. He can either break them up or pull them out, or he can suspend your body in fluid and use directed sound waves to break up the stones in the kidney and you'll piss them out as tiny chunks of gravel. I've had them both done, and you are under anesthesia, so it's completely painless.

Answer 3

Hi, kidney stone can cause so many symptoms like back pain, blood urine, less urine and so on. Small kidney stones can be passed easily by drinking much more water and doing some physical exercises, but for large kidney stones, there are only two ways: operation and Chinese medicine to dissolve it.

Answer 4

Two common symptoms of kidney stones are passing blood in your water and a sharp stinging pain in your lower back.

If you drink a lot of water that will help for the lower back aches and cranberry juice is supposed to help dissolve kidney stones.

For further information perhaps a search for "kidney stones" + dissolve might be of interest.

Answer 5

Usually intermittent back pain radiating around the side down toward the genitals. Some times blood in the urine. Nausea.

Since so many other things have the same symptoms, it is best to check with a doctor.

Most stones pass on their own, but this can be very painful.

See the reference for more detail

Answer 6

From my own experience , there was blood in the urine and I was in agony !
If you have any reason to think you have a medical problem of any kind PLEASE go to a doctor or the ER immediately !