Kidney stones are stone-like hard and tough deposits of salts and minerals that form inside any of the kidneys in your body. It is a challenging condition for victims and can be caused by obesity and weight gain, diet, many medical issues like Cardiovascular disorders, some medications, and supplements. Kidney stone formation can be detected by the change in color of urine due to the concentration of minerals and their stickiness.
Kidney stones can be stagnant or may flow in the urinary tract and damage it badly. When kidney stones travel from kidney to bladder, it can affect the ureter badly. The movement of kidney stones is painful and hard to bear due to their sizes but if a stone could move through the body, it will protect you from further damage to your kidney.
You can pass stone by taking a lot of water, some medication for breakage of stone and its bonds. In different cases, as if stones become held up in the urinary lot, are related to a urinary disease or cause difficulties and medical procedure might be required. A physician may prescribe preventive treatment to diminish your danger of intermittent kidney stones in case you are at an expanded danger of creating them once more.
What are the causes of Kidney Stones?
There are no specific causes of kidney stones but there are some factors that could boost the rate of formation of kidney stones. Kidney stones can be formed when your urine has more crystallization substances like uric acid, oxalate, and calcium than the fluid that can dilute them and stop crystallization. One more verified and known reason for kidney stones is the lack of substances that can prevention stickiness of particles together and creating a favorable environment for kidney stones formation.
Symptoms of Kidney stones
You will not feel any pain and burning until the kidney stone stays inside the kidney in rest condition. Whenever kidney stones move around inside the kidney as well as a move outside to the ureters, it can cause too much pain and burning for you because ureters are small and narrow and stone can block it. Due to the blockage of the ureter, there will be no flow of urine from the kidney to the bladder, it will cause swelling and pain inside the kidney and will be very painful. There will be some signs and symptoms like:
- Burning and pain during and after urination.
- Pains of different intensity with fluctuations.
- Pain also radiates and spreads in the groin and abdomen region.
- Severe pain in the backside and ribs.
Some more signs and symptoms are:
- Chills and fever due to chronic infection,
- Red, pink, and brown color urine.
- Bad and foul smell urine with a cloudy appearance.
- Vomiting and nausea.
- Need of urination after a little time.
There is a change in the position and location of pain due to kidney stones that depends on the location of the kidney stone. Like, if your stone stays inside the kidney and moving, it will cause pain in the kidney, but if move outside to the ureter or urinary bladder, it will cause pain there. So, there is no exact location of pain in kidney stone because kidney stone is a vast term used for all kidney, ureter, and bladder stones. Each organ has a different location of the pain as symptoms.
Types of Kidney Stones
As we know that kidney stones can be formed by the accumulation and stickiness of different components and organic and inorganic substances. You can get a kidney stone by an injury to the backside. Depending on all these there are few types of kidney stones. Some of them are:
Calcium Stones
Calcium stones can be formed by the accumulation of calcium and oxalate mostly found in leafy vegetables and tomatoes and form calcium oxalate stones. You can also get calcium and phosphate stones. These are the most common and frequently occurring types of kidney stones. More than 70% of kidney stones are calcium oxalate stones.
Uric Acid Stones
Uric acid stones can be formed by the accumulation and discharge of uric acid in the urine. It can make your urine more acidic and concentrated. Uric acid can form stones in combination with calcium or separately.
Cystine Stones
These stones are formed by a chemical substance known as cystine. Cystine is an amino acid and can form sone due to some genetic disorder. This can cause leakage of stones into the urine. These stones are rare and not much effective and painful.
Struvite Stones
These stones can be formed due to some infection to the urinary tract or any organ of the urinary tract like the ureter etc. These stones can be caused by an injury to your urinary tract.
Risk factors for kidney stones
There are a few risk factors for you to get kidney stones. Men are more commonly victims of kidney stones as compared to women. Some of the risk factors which you can prevent may help you a lot.
- You have had kidney stones previously.
- You have a family history of kidney stones that can be transferred to you.
- You have a condition that causes expansion or disturbance in your gut or your joints.
- You take certain drugs, for example, diuretics (water pills) or calcium-based stomach settling agents.
- You follow an eating routine high in protein, sodium, or potentially sugar.
- You are not taking enough and clear water. Bad and dirty water can be a risk for you.
- You are bulky or overweight.
- You have a polycystic kidney infection or another cystic kidney sickness.
- You have had a gastric detour a medical procedure or another intestinal medical procedure.
- You have a specific condition that makes your pee contain elevated levels of cystine, oxalate.
Home remedies to prevent Kidney Stones
You can prevent a kidney stone with few home remedies. Some of them are:
- Stay hydrated by taking water, lemon juice, Apple cider juice, basil juice, celery juice, and pomegranate juice.
- You can make and take kidney bean broth at home.
- You can use some natural products like wheatgrass juice and horsetail juice.
Foods cause Kidney stones
As there are many types of kidney stones, so each type can be caused by different foods depending on the availability of nutrients and components in that food. Some of them are:
Foods for calcium Oxalate stones
Foods that have a high concentration of calcium and oxalate in them, may cause calcium oxalate stones. Some of the foods are:
- Rhubarb
- Miso soup
- Beets
- Okra
- Cocoa powder
- Sweet potatoes
- French fries
- Baked potatoes with skin
- Raspberries
- Spinach
- Almonds and cashews
All of these are high oxalate and calcium foods and can cause oxalate stones. So, you should avoid these foods that are causing kidney stones in your body and give you pain.
- Some animal protein-based foods like beef, eggs, pork, cheese, and meat may boost risks of different types of kidney stones formation.
- More use of Vitamin C or Ascorbic acid can cause the production of oxalate in the body and may lead to kidney stones. Do not take more than 500mg of vitamin C in a day.
- A high level of sodium in foods may increase the level of calcium in the urine that may stick to oxalate and form a hard and tough stone-like body called calcium oxalate stone. Do not eat canned foods, fast foods, and meats, etc. in your diet.
Good foods for Kidney repair
There are a lot of foods that can help you to get back the original and well form of your kidney. Many physicians and nephrologists have given their consultation on it and some of the foods to eat in kidney stones are:
- Red Bell Peppers
- Cauliflower
- Cabbage
- Onions
- Garlic
- Apples
- Oranges
- Bananas
- Cranberries
- Blueberries and raspberries
- Cherries
- White Eggs
- Olive Oil
Use these goods with proper consultation with a doctor and take a proper dose of each of them, otherwise, it can result in further severeness. These foods can play a key role in the normal function and repair of your damaged kidney due to kidney stones.
FAQs
Is Kidney stone painful?
Yes, a kidney stone is painful but there are few conditions like when your stones are at rest, there will be no pain but, when it starts movements inside the kidney or outside of it, it will cause too much pain and tension in your body.
How are kidney stones formed?
Kidney stones formation forms with the deposition of calcium oxalate, phosphate, and uric acid inside the kidney and results in a hard and sticky structure.
How to force a kidney stone to pass?
You can pass a stone by drinking enough water a day so that it could move and pass through the way of urine. Some lithotripsy techniques can also be helpful in the breakdown of kidney stones and can pass them in the urine with ease.
What is the location of kidney stone pain on the back?
Pian due to kidney stones can be felt on the sides, or in the center of the upper back (regularly under the ribs, to one side or left of the spine).
What are the specific symptoms of kidney stones in females?
Kidney stones are more often common in men than women. There are 11% in men and 9% for women. Few symptoms of kidney stones are specific for females like a disturbance in the menstrual cycle, the pain felt in the uterus, reproductive part issues, and many other lower abdomen related issues. Kidney stones in females can be very painful and hard to bear due to their effects on the reproductive organs.
What is ICD-10 for kidney stones?
N20. 0 is a billable/explicit ICD-10-CM code that can be utilized to show a finding for repayment purposes. There are different codes in the ICD-10 list.
What are the stages of passing a kidney stone?
There are four main stages through which a kidney stone moves to pass from the body. These are:
- First, kidney stones detach from the inner wall of your kidney. No one can feel any pain before detaching because kidney stones are at rest but after detaching, the movement will start and you can be felt.
- Second, kidney stones move from the whole kidney to the hilus and then to the ureter (A tube-like structure from the kidney to the urinary bladder). This is a very painful stage because there is too much construction of the ureter due to its small and narrow structure.
- Third, kidney stones move from the ureter to the urinary bladder. This stage is also very painful and severe, and it can be life-threatening.
- After the whole, Kidney stones move from the urinary bladder to the way of urine in the urethra outside the body. Your kidney stone passes this way from your kidney to the outside of your body through the penis.
What is different Yoga for kidney stones?
There are a few most key yoga asanas that can help you to get past kidney stones and give you instant relief. Some of them are:
- Ushtra Asana
- Uttanpadasana
- Pawanmukta Asana
- Bhujanga Asana
- Dhanur Asana
- Garuda Asana
- Ardha Matsyendrasana
These are the poses that can help you to get rid of kidney stones in an easy and better way. You can try different yoga positions to push the stone out of your body and get a happy life.
The Bottom Line
We have discussed all the aspects linked to kidney stones like symptoms, yoga, causes, risk factors, and prevention, etc. You can follow these remedies etc. at home to prevent and get efficiently rid of the stone. Live your life with a balance between exercise and meals. Live a happy and healthy life with proper care.