Kidney Stone Advice: Treatment and Prevention

If you have ever had an episode with kidney stones, you are well aware of how painfully uncomfortable they are. Kidney stones form when there is an abnormal clumping together of the tiny grainy crystals that normally pass through our urinary tract and out of our bodies. When this clumping together occurs, a more solid mass begins to form. As fluids pass through the kidneys and urinary tract, it will push and move the stone or stones in an attempt to help them pass. Unfortunately, not every stone is small enough to pass through the urinary tract, which can lead to obstruction, infection, and a great deal of pain.

The crystals that form a kidney stone can be made of calcium, which then combines with oxalates, phosphate, or carbonates. Some people, especially men, get stones that are made of uric acid. People with the hereditary disorder known as cystinuria are more predisposed to having kidney stone called cystine stones. While still, many women who have frequent urinary tract infections will have kidney stones that form from the bacterial infection, and these stones are called struvite stones.

Once you have been properly diagnosed with kidney stones with either X-Ray, CT Scan, or Ultrasound, your physician will suggest a route of treatment for you.

If your stones are small enough to pass on their own, you can use the following treatments to assist the stones passage:

Drink the daily required amount of water which is 6-10 glasses of water a day (8 ounce glasses). You do not want to drink more water then your body actually needs, because flooding the urinary tract with water can also strip away the bladders lining, taking away its needed defense against infection. You will know that you are drinking enough water when your urine is light yellow. If your urine is dark yellow to amber color, you are definitely not drinking enough water.

Have a beer or two in the evening. Beer has a natural diuretic quality, and this can help encourage the passage of the stones.

Exercise and keep active. If you are not having too much pain, you should exercise, go for a walk, and keep moving. Increasing your activities and exercise also help stones move, and ultimately, you want them to move and pass as quickly as possible.

Strain your urine. Your doctor should provide you with a urine strainer and container to collect any renal calculi (stones) that pass. The doctor will want to have the stones analyzed to find out what they are made up of to better help with preventing future episodes.

For pain, you can try heating pads, warm compresses, and warm baths. If pain medication was prescribed, you should use as needed.

Now if your stones are too big to pass on their own, you may require medical intervention to assist with the stones passing. The following are medical procedures that may be used to treat kidney stones:

Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy (ESWL) is a procedure that uses sound waves to shatter and fragment the stones while they are in your kidney. This will make the stones small enough to pass on their own.

Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy or Nephrolithotripsy, which are more invasive procedures, will have a surgeon making a small incision into your back, inserts a telescope into your kidney, and either removes the stone or breaks them up.

Ureteroscopy is another procedure sometimes used to remove or break up kidney stones. With this procedure, the urologist will use a thin telescope tube to pass up through the urinary tract, and then will other instruments; they will remove or break up the stones.

Prevention of kidney stones and future episodes include some or all of the following steps:

Continue drinking 6-10 glasses of water a day.

Eat more foods high in fiber like whole wheat breads, bran, oats, cereals, beans, carrots, and cabbage.

Only eat a moderate amount of foods that are high in calcium.

Cut back on eating meats (beef and pork) and poultry.

Eliminate foods that are high in oxalates from your diet. These food products consist of dark green vegetables, nuts, and unfortunately chocolate.

Lessen your sodium intake (salt).

Avoid caffeine, and sodas (carbonated drinks).

Increase your exercise regimen.

Unfortunately, once a person has had kidney stones one time in their life, they are more likely to get them again. Even if you adhere to all the preventive measures, you may still experience kidney stones in the future. However, the prevention steps will assist you in keeping the stones small and manageable.