Common Causes of Kidney Pain

There are a few different common causes of kidney pain. Although you should always see your doctor for any moderate to severe kidney pain, knowing what causes the pain in the kidneys can help you be better prepared for what you may be up against.

Where is Kidney Pain Located?
Before you can even know if you have kidney pain, you need to know where you would be feeling the hurting on your body. Kidney pain can be felt between the ribs and the lower back on either the right or left side of the body. Most often it is a sharp, piercing pain and will sometimes occur off and on. Pain from the kidneys is hardly ever a dull, aching pain as this is associated with back pain from such things as a strained muscle or problems with the spinal column. One way to distinguish kidney pain from back pain is that back pain will get worse with movement and will get better with applied heat.

Now that you know what actual pain from the kidneys feels like here are the common causes of kidney pain.

Kidney Stones
One of the most common causes of kidney pain is kidney stones. The thing about kidney stones is that they don't actually cause you the pain. It does not hurt when a kidney stone forms. The kidney stone pain actually comes when the stone is passed by the person. Often a kidney stone will get stuck in the ureter on the way from the kidney to the bladder. This blockage of the ureter is what causes the severe pain. The flow of urine from the kidney to the bladder gets blocked which causes the kidney to swell with waste, which causes it to stretch beyond it should, which is why one suffers excruciating pain from kidney stones.

Kidney Infection
Kidney pain can also be caused by an infection in the kidneys. A kidney infection, which is also known by pyelonephritis, causes inflammation of the organ's tissue, which makes it swell to an abnormal size. When the kidney gets stretched like that it causes a person sharp pain in their back. When a person has a kidney infection they will most likely also suffer from a fever, nausea, and vomiting. A kidney infection needs to be treated with antibiotics immediately to prevent it from permanently damaging the kidney.

Blocked Urine Flow
Sometimes a person may suffer from a blocked urine flow that is not related to kidney stones. This may be a gradual blockage which builds up over time. This is the rare case were a person may feel a dull pain at first, but as time goes on it will get more severe.

Other Less Common Causes of Kidney Pain
There are some other causes of pain from the kidneys that are not as common as kidney stones or a kidney infection. Kidney cancer, bleeding in the kidneys and kidney disease can all cause kidney pain.

If you are suffering from any type of kidney pain, see your doctor as soon as possible to get a diagnosis of what your pain is from. If you are in severe pain, which can happen with pain caused by the kidneys, visit your local emergency room immediately.

Source: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/kidney-pain/MY00125