Kidney stone treatment

Drinking plenty of fluids is a vital part of passing Although water alone may be enough to do the trick, adding certain ingredients might be beneficial. Talk with a doctor before getting started with any of the home remedies listed below. They can assess whether these strategies are right for you or if they could lead to additional unwanted effects. Be sure to drink one 8-ounce glass of water immediately after drinking any flavored remedy. This can help move the ingredients through your system. If you’re pregnant or breastfeeding, avoid using any remedies. A doctor can determine whether a juice may cause side effects for you or your baby. When passing a stone, upping your water intake can help speed up the process. Strive for 12 glasses of water per day instead of the usual 8. Once the stone passes, you should continue to drink 8 to 12 glasses of water each day. Pay attention to the color of your urine. It should be a very light, pale yellow. You can add freshly squeezed lemons to your water as often as you like. Lemons contain citrate, which is a chemical that A great deal of lemon juice would probably be needed to make a huge effect, but some may help a little. Lemon juice has numerous other health benefits. For example, it helps inhibit bacteria growth and provides vitamin C. There are antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents in basil juice, so it could maintain kidney health. But there’s little evidence to support this remedy. To try it, use fresh or dried basil leave...

If you’ve been diagnosed with kidney stones (urolithiasis), you may have several options for treatment. These include medical therapy, extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL), percutaneous nephrolithotripsy (PCNL), and ureteroscopy. A brief anatomy of the urinary tract The urinary tract includes • kidneys (two organs that filter waste and extra water from the blood) • ureters (two tubes bringing urine from each kidney to the bladder) • bladder (organ that collects urine) • urethra (a single tube through which urine in the bladder passes out of the body). The evaluation for kidney stones If your You will also have blood tests, including tests for renal function (creatinine, BUN). Your doctor may suggest other blood tests as well. A urinalysis will be obtained and if infection is suspected, a urine culture will be sent. Keeping kidney stone pain under control If you are experiencing the intense discomfort of kidney stones (renal colic), pain control is a top priority. A 2018 Medical therapy for kidney stones Most evidence suggests that stones less than 10 mm in diameter have a reasonable chance of passing through the urinary tract spontaneously. You may be offered medical expulsive therapy (MET) using an alpha blocker medication, such as tamsulosin. It’s important to understand that this is an off-label use of the drug. Rarely, tamsulosin causes a condition called intraoperative floppy iris syndrome that can complicate cataract surgery. Not all experts feel MET is worth...

Share on Pinterest Not all kidney stones are made up of the same crystals. The different types of kidney stones include: Calcium Calcium stones are the Eating • potato chips • peanuts • chocolate • spinach However, even though some kidney stones are made of calcium, getting enough calcium in your diet can prevent stones from forming. Uric acid This type of kidney stone is the This type of stone develops when urine is too acidic. A diet rich in purines Struvite This type of stone is found Struvite stones result from a Cystine About With this type of stone, cystine — an acid that occurs naturally in the body — leaks from the kidneys into the urine. Kidney stones can cause severe pain. Symptoms of kidney stones may not occur until the stone begins to move down the In men, pain may radiate to the groin area. The pain of renal colic comes and goes but can be intense. People with renal colic tend to be restless. Other symptoms of kidney stones can • • • • discolored or • • • • urinating small amounts of urine In the case of a small kidney stone, you may not have any pain or symptoms as the stone passes through your urinary tract. Kidney stones are most likely to occur in people between the Different factors can increase your risk of developing a stone. In the United States, Sex also plays a role. More men than women develop kidney stones, according to the A history of kidney stones can increase your risk. So does a family history of kidney stones. Other risk factors • • • a diet...

Urine contains many dissolved minerals and salts. When your urine has high levels of these minerals and salts, you can form stones. Kidney stones can start small but can grow larger in size, even filling the inner hollow structures of the kidney. Some stones stay in the kidney, and do not cause any problems. Sometimes, the kidney stone can travel down the ureter, the tube between the kidney and the bladder. If the stone reaches the bladder, it can be passed out of the body in urine. If the stone becomes lodged in the ureter, it blocks the urine flow from that kidney and causes pain. The Kidneys and Urinary System The kidneys are fist-size organs that handle the body's fluid and chemical levels. Most people have two kidneys, one on each side of the spine behind the liver, stomach, pancreas and intestines. Healthy kidneys clean waste from the blood and remove it in the urine. They control the levels of sodium, potassium and calcium in the blood. Diagram of the Female Urinary Tract Enlarge The kidneys, ureters and bladder are part of your urinary tract. The urinary tract makes, transports, and stores urine in the body. The kidneys make urine from water and your body's waste. The urine then travels down the ureters into the bladder, where it is stored. Urine leaves your body through the urethra. Kidney stones form in the kidney. Some stones move from the kidney into the ureter. The ureters are tubes leading from the kidneys to the bladder. If a stone leaves the kidney and gets...

Your treatment depends on where and how big your stone is and what symptoms you have. First, You Wait If your stone doesn’t bother you, your doctor may suggest you wait 2-4 weeks for it to pass on its own. They may tell you to drink extra water to help flush it out of your body. They may ask you to catch the stone in a strainer when you pee. A lab can test it for minerals to see if medication might prevent more stones. Medicines If you’re in discomfort, you can manage your symptoms while you wait for the stone to exit. Over-the-counter pain relievers such as Prescription drugs can help: Calcium channel blockers and alpha-blockers: These relax your ureter, the tube through which pee passes from your Potassium citrate or from forming. Surgery Sometimes, a stone is too big to come out by itself. Your doctor may have to break it up or remove it. They also may do that if you are: • In a lot of pain • Have an infection • Unable to pee because the stone is blocking the flow or stone is blocking urine from one kidney (in which case you might still be able to pee) Your doctor can choose from several procedures. Shock wave lithotripsy (SWL). This is the most common treatment in the U.S. It works best for small or medium stones. Your doctor aims high-energy sound waves to break up the You will get pain-numbing medicine beforehand, and you usually can go home on the same day. Ureteroscopy. Your doctor inserts a thin, flexible scope through your urethra, bladder and then into your uret...