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You may wonder what are kidney stone? They are stone like deposits that occur in the kidney and prevent it functioning to its full. When kidneys filter waste from the blood, they create urine. Mostly salts and other minerals in urine stick together to form small deposits called kidney stones. The sizes of these stones range from that of a sugar crystal to a ping pong ball. The kidney stones remain unnoticed until they block the urine output and cause severe pain.

Symptoms of kidney stone

Kidney stone need not remain stationary and they tend to move. When kidney stones move through the urinary tract, they cause severe pain in the back, belly or groin. There is frequent painful urination, blood in urine and a constant feeling of nausea and vomiting. Though smaller stones pass out of the body through urine and cause no symptoms.

Is it kidney stone?

If there is an acute occurrence of back pain or belly pain, its best to seek immediate medical care. Abdominal pain can be associated with several other conditions like appendicitis and ectopic pregnancy. Painful urination may be due to UTI or urinary tract infection or it may be due to other diseases like STD or sexually transmitted diseases.

What causes kidney stone?

Kidney stones may be caused when the normal balance of water, salts and minerals found in urine is changed. The different kind of kidney stone depends on the different kind of changes that happen. Chronic medical conditions, what you eat or drink can all result in changes that lead to formation of kidney stones.

Diagnosis of kidney stone

Kidney stone rarely get diagnosed before their symptoms like pain appear. The pain is so severe that the patient will get admitted in the ICU. A variety of tests are used to uncover kidney stones, they include CT scan, X-rays, ultrasound and urinalysis. Blood tests also look up for high levels of minerals to detect kidney stone.

Treatments for kidney stone

If there is no pain as such and if the stone is small, a doctor may ask a patient to drink lots of water in an attempt to flush out the kidney stone. Otherwise there are prescription medications that can help the body to pass out the stone. Certain alpha blockers help the wall of the ureter to relax and widen the passage for the stone to pass.  The doctor may also prescribe drugs that will prevent further formation of kidney stones.

Shock wave therapy

The most well known procedure for treating kidney stone has been extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL). This therapy uses high-energy shock waves to break a kidney stone into little pieces. The small pieces can then move through the urinary tract and get out through urine. The side effects of this therapy include bleeding, bruising, or pain, though such cases are rare.

Ureteroscopy treatment

When a stone has made its way out of the kidney and is close to the bladder, the most common procedure is ureteroscopy. A thin tube is passed through the urinary tract to the location of the stone. A surgeon breaks up the stone and removes the fragments through the tube. There are no incisions made in the body and for larger stones, surgical procedures may be needed.

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