Kidney Stones Symptoms - The WORST PAIN Imaginable

Kidney stones form when dissolved minerals build up inside the kidneys. More than five hundred thousand people go to the emergency room with kidney stone related problems every year, and researchers have determined that about one in ten people will get a kidney stone during their lifetime. So, what exactly is a kidney stone and how do people get them? A kidney stone is a solid, irregularly shaped object made from chemicals in the urine. A kidney stone can be as small as a grain of rice or, shockingly, as large as a golf ball. Your urine contains various waste substances, including calcium, oxalate, and uric acid. Kidney stones are formed when the urine has a higher-than-normal concentration of these minerals and substances which can stick together to form a tiny hard crystal. This solid mass will continue to grow unless it is passed out of the body with the urine. After the kidney stone has formed, it will either stay in the kidney or travel down the urinary tract into the ureter. Sometimes kidney stones pass out of the body without causing any pain or without you even knowing they’ve passed, but in other cases, if the stone gets stuck, it can cause a back-up of urine and extreme pain. There are four different types of kidney stones made of different substances: calcium oxalate, uric acid, struvite, and cystine. Factors that cause and increase your risk of kidney stones Kidney stones generally have no single cause, and numerous factors may increase your risk of getting them. Some of these factors include: • Insufficient hydration Your body needs to produce enough urine to dilute the substances that can form kidney stones. If you don’t drink enough water or you sweat too much, your urine is probably a dark color. It should be nearly clear or pale yellow. You should produce about 8 cups of urine a day, so aim to drink about ten cups of water daily. Every now and then, swap a glass of water for a citrus drink. The citrate in orange juice or lemonade is known to potentially block kidney stones from forming. • Diet What you eat plays a significant role in determining whether you get one of these nasty stones or not. The most common kind of kidney stone occurs when calcium and oxalate stick together while your kidneys produce urine. Oxalate is a chemical in many healthy foods and vegetables, so your doctor may tell you to reduce high-oxalate foods if you’ve had this kind of kidney stone before. Examples of high oxalate-food include spinach, rhubarb, grits, and bran cereal. You may have also heard that drinking milk can cause kidney stones. However, this is not true. If you consume calcium-rich foods, like milk and cheese, and foods with oxalate simultaneously, it helps your body process the oxalate. This is because the calcium and oxalate bind in the gut instead of the kidneys, where stones form. Sodium, which you mainly get through table salt, can raise your chances of getting several kinds of kidney stones. Watch out for salty snacks, packaged meats, canned foods, and other processed substances as they can increase your chances of getting kidney stones. Animal protein can also increase the risk of kidney stones. One type of kidney stone forms when your urine is too acidic, and red meat and shellfish can make the uric acid level in your body rise. This uric acid collects in the joints and causes gout or moves to your kidneys and forms a stone. More importantly, animal protein raises the calcium level in your urine and lowers the amount of citrate in your body which can trigger the formation of kidney stones. • Gut problems Kidney stones are the most common kidney problem in people with inflammatory bowel diseases like ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. Bowel problems can cause diarrhea, so you produce less urine. Your body may also absorb extra oxalate from the intestines, so more gets in your urine. • Medical conditions Certain genetic diseases carry a higher risk of kidney stones. One example is a congenital disability known as medullary sponge kidney, which causes cysts to form in the kidneys. Another disease is type 2 diabetes which can make your urine more acidic, encouraging kidney stones. Gout is another condition that makes uric acid build up in the blood and form crystals in the kidneys and joints, resulting in large and painful kidney stones. Hyperparathyroidism causes your parathyroid glands to pump out too many hormones, which raises calcium levels in the blood and urine and causes kidney stones. Renal tubular acidosis is a kidney problem that causes too much acid to build up in the body, which can also lead to kidney stone formation. • Medications Some medications that can cause kidney stones include certain antibiotics, such as ciprofloxacin and sulfa antibiotics, certain drugs that treat HIV and AIDS, and certain diuretics used to treat high blood pressure. What are the symptoms of kidney stones? How are kidney stones treated?