Small kidney stones may pass through your urinary tract without treatment. If you’re able to pass a kidney stone, a health care professional may ask you to catch the kidney stone in a special container. A health care professional will send the kidney stone to a lab to find out what type it is. A health care professional may advise you to drink plenty of liquids if you are able to help move a kidney stone along. The health care professional also may prescribe pain medicine.
Larger kidney stones or kidney stones that block your urinary tract or cause great pain may need urgent treatment. If you are vomiting and dehydrated, you may need to go to the hospital and get fluids through an IV.
Symptoms
Symptoms of kidney stones include:
• sharp pains in your back, side, lower abdomen, or groin
• pink, red, or brown blood in your urine, also called hematuria
• a constant need to urinate
• pain while urinating
• inability to urinate or can only urinate a small amount
• cloudy or bad-smelling urine
Your pain may last for a short or long time or may come and go in waves. Along with pain, you may have:
• nausea
• vomiting
• fever
• chills
Causes
Kidney stones are caused by high levels of calcium, oxalate, and phosphorus in the urine. These minerals are normally found in urine and do not cause problems at low levels.
Certain foods may increase the chances of having a kidney stone in people who are more likely to develop them.
FAQ
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