Kidney Stone Symptoms

Kidney stones can be very painful and potentially dangerous so it's important to know for sure whether you have them or not. Before we look at kidney stone symptoms, we need to clearly understand what these stones are and how they affect your kidneys.

Your kidneys are located on either side of your spine around the area of the middle of your back. These bean-shaped organs work to filter waste products out of your blood and their efficient working is vital for your health.

Each day these hard-working organs process over 200 quarts of your blood and remove up to two quarts of impurities and excess water. These are then sent down tubes called ureters to your bladder for excretion as urine.

Kidney stones are hard objects that form in your kidneys from these waste materials. These stones can either stay in your kidneys or pass out of your body.

Depending on the size of the stone, passing a kidney stone can either be painless or extremely painful and can block the flow of urine. This blockage can occur in the ureter, bladder or the urethra - the tube that connects your bladder to the outside.

Doctors have identified four main types of kidney stones.

The most common types of stones are formed from calcium. Calcium stones make up around 80% of cases. Calcium is a key mineral in our diets and is used to form bones and teeth as well as having other functions.

Excess calcium is excreted from the body via the kidneys but in some people it combines with other waste products to from kidney stones. The most common form is calcium oxalate.
 
The next type is the struvite stone which is formed from magnesium and ammonia which is one of the waste products excreted by the kidneys. Struvite stones often occur after an urinary infection and so tend to affect women more that men.

Uric acid stones form when the urine is highly acidic. This generally results from a diet rich in animal proteins such as beef. They can also result from chemotherapy and be hereditary.

The final form, the cystine stone is quite rare and is usually hereditary. It results from a condition known as cystinuria in which the kidneys excrete excessive cystine. Cystine is an amino acid, one of the components of proteins.

Kidney stones come in many shapes and sizes. Size can range from the dimension of a sand grain up to that of a pearl, and in exceptional circumstances, the size of a golf ball. The shape can be smooth or rough and the colour is usually brown or yellow.

Now let's look at kidney stone symptoms.

One thing you need to remember is that kidney stones can produce no symptoms at all. This is usually the case for "silent stones", stones that don't move from the kidney. Symptoms generally occur as a result of blockage when the stone moves out of the kidney.

The following signs are indicative of the condition and their appearance should be a cause of alarm.

• Persistent severe pain in your back or side.
• Blood in your urine. You can tell from its pinkish color.
• Cloudy or foul smelling urine.
• Fever or chills.
• Nausea and vomiting.
• A persistent urge to urinate and burning pain on urination.

If you suffer from any of the above kidney stone symptoms, you should call your doctor immediately.